Radiant Decay
by GuyYouMetOnline
Summary: 500 years after the Radiance, Gensokyo is a dying world overrun by creatures known as Shades. Nue, desperately searching for a way to save the life of the woman she's come to love from a mysterious disease, stumbles upon an object that may be connected to the disease and to the Shades. Meanwhile, Mokou finds herself confronting the one she loves, a lifelong enemy as her only ally.
1. Chapter 1: Broken Lives

** A note before we begin: this story will be heavily based on that of the video game NieR. Knowledge of that game is in no way needed, however, as I'm only drawing from it; this isn't a crossover or anything. And for those who are familiar with NieR, well, don't think you know what all the twists are, because although this is to a significant extent based on NieR, there'll be a lot that has nothing to do with NieR (including, as you'll soon see, the very first scene). Anyways, here we go:**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<br>**_Broken Lives_

She stood at the gates of hell.

Not the _true_ hell, of course; even back when it was a place you could travel to, Higan had no gates, only the river that served the purpose more effectively than any gate could. And not the former hell, either; that, she was already in. No, this was a personal hell, created specifically for the person stuck inside.

She raised her hand to the 'keypad' and punched in the code. A simple code, one she'd only seen once before, a long time ago, but very easy to remember. After all, there was little harm anyone could do inside; it was there for the safety of those still outside.

The specially made 'door' slid open, the flames within illuminating the deserted corridor. But light was all that escaped; the flames, and the heat, and everything else was safely contained within. Even when the door was open, a magic field kept it contained.

She held her hand up and reached through the field, quickly pulling it back. _Burnt. As expected. This is not going to be pleasant._ Flame was usually harmless to her, but the solar fires contained within here were different, outside of her control. And the other effects, of course, she also could do nothing about. Not that she needed to; very shortly after emerging, her body would be as though nothing had happened.

She stepped up to the opening and paused. _Okay, last chance to walk away. If I do this, there's no turning back. Do I really want to do this for _her_?_ She shook her head. _No, don't think that way. What I've done to her is far worse than what she did to me._

She focused. The solar flames may have been outside her ability to influence, but she could still sense them, and as such, could tell where something was within it. And there was only one thing in there.

She paused again, readying herself, and then moved. The cloak she'd been wearing was incinerated as she passed through the field, and Fujiwara no Mokou leapt into the flames.

It was a straight shot, and Mokou finished quickly. She went in, grabbed what she was after, and came out, placing the body she'd retrieved on the floor. She examined her anti-fire charms. Hers were far more effective than any others could be, as she was able to infuse them with the essence of fire upon making them. But even hers had been overcome by the solar furnace. _They did their job, though; my clothes are still intact._ And she had other charms to replace them. Her body had been very badly burned, but it wouldn't be a problem; she was already healing. The body she'd retrieves was much worse, but that one, too was healing.

Mokou picked up the basic outfit she'd placed by the door. She dressed the naked body as soon as its full shape had regenerated. _No way I'd carry her naked. Not happening._ She then grabbed one of the two swords she'd placed there, both in their sheaths. This one belonged to the unconscious woman before her, and Mokou strapped it on her. The other was Mokou's, and she put that on herself. _Right, time to go._

Mokou pressed the button to close the door, then took off, the body of Kaguya Houraisan slung over her shoulder.

Mokou flew through the halls, taking a route she knew well. As she neared the end, she saw two youkai coming towards her. They were hell crows, and these ones were able to take humanoid forms, which they were currently in.

One of them pointed at Mokou. "Hey, isn't that-"

"She's got the captive," the other cried out. "Mokou, stop now!"

"No." Mokou drew her sword, swinging it in a wide arc as she flew by the pair. She caught the first across the chest, but the other dodged and grabbed Mokou by the leg. Mokou took hold of the crow's arm, pulled herself in, and impaled her through the chest. She withdrew her blade and impaled the other, then quickly wiped the blade off on the crow's clothes before returning the blade to its sheath. And she did it all without dropping Kaguya.

There was no more opposition as Mokou proceeded on, and before long, she was out. She moved into the passage, leaving the Palace of the Earth Spirits behind her. Below was the entrance to the reactor, which was not her destination. She flew the other way, up towards the surface. The passage, which opened by the Youkai Mountain, had been made by the god Suwako at Kanako's behest, in order to allow the kappa easy access. These days, the passage was rarely used, and Mokou encountered no others as she flew up through it.

* * *

><p><em>The world is dying. Once thriving populations now lie decimated by plague and disease. And as if that wasn't enough, monsters now roam the land, threatening our very lives. The end has never felt so close.<em>

_But that's of no consequence to me. The woman I love is sick, and all I want to do is help her._

_My name is Nue Houjuu. A long time ago, I was a terror throughout the land. But then Gensokyo was separated from the rest of the world, and the human populations had powerful defenders. Not that this stopped me. And I went after youkai, too, which there was no shortage of. But that ended fifteen hundred years ago._

_I had targeted a Buddhist monk and her companions, intending to have some fun with them. My timing, however, was bad. It turns out that this particular monk was also a youkai exterminator. Except that she never killed youkai. She instead relocated them. See, she's only a _former_ human; she had secretly become a youkai, and had secretly been aiding other youkai. And the humans, when they found out, were not amused. But the reason the monk, Byakuren Hijiri, had become a youkai was in search of a way to avoid death, and the means of immortality she found made her into a youkai. She couldn't be killed, but the humans wanted to be rid of her. So they sealed her away within the realm of Makai. They promised not to harm her companions if she cooperated, which she did, but the humans were tricking her. Byakuren was sealed in Makai, and her companions, as well as their flying ship, were sealed separately. They were locked underground. And I, simply because I'd been there, was sent underground as well._

_I am no longer the terror I was back then; a thousand years of being sealed away can change you. I still like having my fun, though, so when we were eventually unsealed, I decided to do just that. They were broken out of the underground unintentionally, as we would later discover, by a youkai who had suddenly gained significant power. Locked away with us had been objects needed to free Byakuren, and in the geyser that freed the ship, they were scattered. I attached Seeds of Non-Identification to these objects, changing how people saw them. This attracted all sorts of company, but in the end, they were able to release Byakuren._

_Byakuren, upon returning to Gensokyo, converted the ship into a temple. She aided anyone who needed her aid, human or youkai. And relationships between humans and youkai were not nearly as strained as they had been a thousand years ago, so she could aid both openly. They even aided me. A couple of the ones who'd been drawn in by my trick managed to track me down, and they decided to beat the shit out of me. One of Byakuren's companions found me afterwards, and the temple took me in. They even knew that I was the one who had caused them trouble, yet they still took me in._

_I stayed at the temple for a while after that. It was the first time I'd ever felt guilty for something I'd done, and I felt it because they'd aided me despite knowing that I had interfered with them. So I stuck around. I was never as devoted as them, but I did my part._

_This arrangement lasted for a few years. It lasted until the event that changed everything._

_Until the Radiance._

* * *

><p>"I need some medicinal herbs," Heida no Ari said. "Could you go get them for me? Three, please."<p>

"Sure," Nue said.

"Thank you. Here."

Nue took the money Ari held out. "Um, I think this is more that the herbs cost."

"The rest is your payment."

"Woah," Nue said, "I'm just running an errand for you. There's no way that's worth this much."

"Just take it. It's the least I can do for you."

"…Fine," Nue said. "Byakuren won't like the thought of you giving us this much, though."

"I'd just give you the money freely if she wouldn't start going on about how I shouldn't trouble myself so much for your sake. I'm being accommodating enough by giving you these dumb errands. Take the money."

"All right, if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"Okay then." Nue opened the door. "Thanks, Ari," she said as she exited Ari's home.

* * *

><p><em>The Radiance happened five hundred years ago. And nobody knows what it actually was; the name comes from the bright light that accompanied it. The actual event was, as far as anyone could determine, brief, but the effects were lasting.<em>

_When the Radiance happened, these… things appeared. Creatures with generally humanoid forms, but… weird. Shadowy. And fluxuating, almost as though they only half-exist. But that is only appearance; these creatures are, in fact, completely solid._

_The creatures were violent. When they appeared, attacks began immediately. The death toll was significant. And that's in addition to the many deaths that remain unexplained. People who seemingly just… died. Those numbers, though, are minor compared to the damage done by the creatures._

_Nobody knows where the creatures came from. They just appeared, and in significant numbers. And they were indiscriminately violent. A lot was destroyed in that initial event, the Temple of Myouren included._

_The creatures attacked in force, and it was all we could do to get as many people out as we did. And we didn't all make it. Ichirin Kumoi was found dead the next day. Shou's gone, too; there was no sign of her at all. We never found Kyouko's body, either. Murasa is gone, as well; the temple was also her ship, her anchor in this world. With it gone, she passed on to the netherworld. Before, she could have simply returned to us from there, but that's not possible now. Only Byakuren, Nazrin, and I made it through alive. Mamizou, too, though she was more my guest than actually one of us._

_The temple was completely destroyed; only ruins remain. Many homes and other places were also destroyed. Fields were ravaged, crops lost. And the crops continue to die; every year, more land ceases to be fertile. It's bad enough now; in another generation or two, there may not be much left. Not even the sky escaped unscarred._

_All these problems are bad enough; with the creatures, it's even worse. They're still violent, still numerous, and still shadowy-looking. Nobody knows what they are, but we do have a name for them._

_We call them Shades._

* * *

><p>There was a commotion in the market. Nue spotted a familiar face near the edge of the crowd and went over to her. "Mamizou, what's going on?"<p>

The tanuki, Mamizou, turned to face Nue. "Ah, Nue. Good timing. I was about to go look for you."

"What is it?"

"Shades," Mamizou said. "A small group has been spotted near the village."

"What?"

"It's true!" one of the villagers said. "I saw them myself! They're just outside the north entrance!"

"I'd handle them if I could," Mamizou said, "but, well, you know."

Nue did indeed know. Mamizou was extremely skilled when it came to danmaku, but Shades didn't play by the spellcard rules, and danmaku wasn't very helpful in a real fight. Mamizou was quite powerful, yes, but she was much more specialized than Nue. When it came to deceptions and illusions, she was unmatched, but she was lacking in actualy combat ability, both physical and magical, though she was still above the average youkai in both. "I can handle it," Nue said. "Just let me buy some herbs first; Ari asked me to get some for her. Can I ask you to deliver them?"

"No problem," Mamizou said.

* * *

><p>Mokou flew through the bamboo forest in which she'd once made her home. She'd been gone for quite some time, but circumstances had led to her returning about a month ago. She landed in the small clearing she'd been using, and gently placed Kaguya on the ground, taking a seat beside her.<p>

Mokou sighed. _I just jumped into a damn star made by the woman I loved to rescue the one responsible for the deaths of not only people important to me, but also people important to her. The world has most certainly gone crazy._

After a rest, Mokou got to her feet. _Right. I should probably go find some food. We may not need it, but after five hundred years, she'll most certainly _want_ it. And I want some, too. I guess crazy rescues can really help you work up an appetite._

* * *

><p>"Greetings, Nue," Byakuren said as Nue entered. After the temple's destruction, the two of them and Nazrin had relocated to a house in the human village; the family that had previously lived there had all been killed in the initial Shade attack. It was more than large enough for the three of them, and when Nazrin had relocated to a nearby house whose residents had suffered the same fate, Nue and Byakuren had been left with even more extra space. They made use of it, though, taking in and caring for people much as they had in the temple, although it of course couldn't hold nearly as many.<p>

"Hey," Nue said. "How're you feeling?"

"Normal. You worry too much, Nue. I'm fine. There's nothing stopping me from lending my aid where it is needed. What of yourself? It sounded like there was a bit of a commotion down by the market."

"Some Shades were spotted near the village," Nue said. "I heard about it while running an errand for Ari. Just a trio, a small group that looked like it had wandered close, but you know how nervous those things make people. So I took care of them."

"It is unusual for them to come near the village, though."

After putting her things away, Nue took a seat next to Byakuren. "True, but I really think it was just coincidence that they ended up close to here."

"Maybe," Byakuren said. "I heard about some unusual Shade activity myself, though."

"Oh?"

"Apparently, Shades were seen heading in the direction of the temple ruins."

"Really? Why would they do that? There's nothing there."

"We have looked the site over quite thoroughly," Byakuren agreed. "The mausoleum below it, however, is a different story."

"Miko's bunch went through it," Nue said. "They didn't find anything."

"True, but then, that structure is more intact than the temple, and there was more within it to begin with. And it was more complex, too. I would think it's much more likely for them to have missed something than it is for us. Or maybe whatever the Shades are there for is something that would seem to have no interest to them or us."

"Shades can show up in unusual areas. And they generally don't like the light very much, either. I'm surprised they haven't been going there before now."

"That is another factor," Byakuren said. "Why haven't they been?"

"Maybe we just haven't noticed."

"Unlikely."

"Agreed," Nue said. "I still don't think they're necessarily up to something, though. I don't know that they have enough of a mind to be 'up to' anything. Still, I guess it's worth taking a look. I'll head over there tomorrow."

"Alone?"

"I can handle myself, Byakuren. You know that."

"I suppose I do. And the Shades you found today gave you no problems, I'm sure."

"As I said, it was just a random trio. Nothing to worry about. Certainly didn't stop me from getting work done."

"You found some work today, then."

"Yeah. Nothing big, though. Just minor random things, such as Ari having me run an errand for her, get her some herbs from the market."

"I hope you didn't ask for payment for something so minor."

Nue chuckled. "Ari paid me. I tried to tell her otherwise, but she was insistent."

"She could easily have gone shopping on her own. Why did she have you do it?"

"Actually, it's your fault." Nue laughed again. "Ari said she'd just give to us if you'd let her."

Byakuren sighed. "We've been over this, Nue. The people have it hard enough already. They shouldn't have to add to their hardships for our sake."

The discussion was indeed familiar ground. "Yeah, I know, but we need some things. We got by fine on charity, but if you're turning even that down, where's that leave us? We do need at least some money. Since you won't accept any, I have to."

"And when you do things people would pay for anyways, it's different. I can accept that, though I don't like it. But I'm never going to ask for payment for my services. People shouldn't be left to suffer just because they don't have enough money."

"I know. And I don't charge for everything. You know that. I'm only charging at all because it's necessary."

"Yeah," Byakuren said, "I know."

* * *

><p><em>Over the time since being freed, my relationship with Byakuren changed. The more time we spent together, the more I became aware of my feelings for her.<em>

_It took me a long time to get up the courage to tell her that I loved her. It wasn't until many years after the Radiance that I made that confession. I'd never been so worried in my life. I thought for sure she wouldn't return my feelings, not when I was a troublemaker. Even if I had been making less trouble as time went on. But I guess I'd changed even more than I realized. Byakuren and I have become very close since then, which makes the current situation very hard on me._

_There is a disease. The first case of it was several years ago. It's fairly rare, which is good, as all known cases have been fatal. Because of the writing-like black marks it leaves on the skin, it has become known as the Black Scrawl._

_And Byakuren has it._

_Nobody knows how much time she has left. She's already lived with it for much longer than anyone else, and without much of the physical deterioration that it causes. Without much of the pain, too. I think it's because of her nature, because of the change she underwent to avoid death. But it's affecting her despite the immortality she attained, and I fear it's only a matter of time before it claims even her._

_I'm doing everything I can to find a cure, to find some way to save her. If the very, very slow rate of progression is any indication, there's still time, maybe a few years instead of the few months is usually takes. But even that feels like far too little time. She's going to die if I can't find anything, and I don't want to lose her._

* * *

><p>When Kaguya awoke, it was night.<p>

Kaguya slowly rose to a seated position and looked around. She was in a small clearing within a forest. _The bamboo forest? No, I know it too well, and I don't recognize… well, I suppose change is to be expected. Something's strange, though._

Kaguya looked around. Sure enough, there was an odd look to her surroundings. She looked up to the star-filled night sky. _The stars look off, too, but I can't tell how. Maybe…_ She quickly located the moon. _What the- is the moon… orange? No, not just the moon. The stars, too. Come to think of it, that's what looks odd all around, isn't it? There's an orange tint. But why? What could cause something like that?_

Kaguya spotted someone entering the clearing, someone she knew well. "Mokou."

"Naturally," Mokou said with a chuckle. "Of course you woke up while I was gone."

"Wait… are you the one who-"

"Got you out of there? Yes. I did. The reason is complicated, so don't ask."

"There are more important concerns, anyways," Kaguya said. "For instance: what's with the orange tint?"

"That's just the way things are now. Don't ask me why. I'm a little behind on surface events."

"Yes, that's right, you moved in with that hell crow." _A conversation with the woman who's declared me her immortal enemy. Somewhat awkward._ "Um, how are… uh…"

"Don't try to force small talk," Mokou said. "There are important things to go over anyways. Starting with the date. Kaguya, it's been five hundred years."

"Four hundred seventy-nine years, eighty-six days, eleven hours, six minutes, and… twenty-five seconds."

"Um…"

"I am the Maiden of Eternity," Kaguya said. "Of course I know how long it's been."

"Right." Mokou sighed. "Kaguya, um…"

"Don't worry about it. I got your father killed, and then before she threw me in there, I… well, let me put it this way: I'm willing to call us even."

Mokou was silent. _Guess I surprised her with that one._

"Really, Mokou," Kaguya said after a few minutes of silence, "it's okay to speak."

"I prefer to remain silent when I don't know what to say."

_Yes, she certainly was not expecting that._ "At a loss for words, are you?"

"I just… okay, um, Kaguya? How the hell can you just dismiss something like that?"

"Several reasons," Kaguya said. "First, the more philosophical one: I've learned to be forgiving. Having someone who won't forgive me at all has taught me that lesson quite nicely. People do things they shouldn't have. That was true of me when I issued my challenge, and as soon as I realized what was happening, I withdrew it. It's true here, too. And you clearly have decided that what happened was wrong, as you are the one who rescued me."

"Right," Mokou said, "whatever."

"The second reason-and by far the most important one-is that you aren't the one who threw me in there. All you did was stand by while it happened. A wrong, yes, but not nearly as major a wrong." Mokou said nothing, but Kaguya could tell she didn't agree. "And the third reason is that the situation wasn't nearly as bad as you think it was."

"Um…"

"Oh, it's nothing complicated. It's just a matter of awareness. I was in there for almost five hundred years, but I was only aware for about a month."

It took a few seconds for Mokou to reply. "Uh, what?"

Kaguya laughed. "I was only aware for about a month. Twenty-nine days, one hour, fifty-four minutes, and three seconds, to be precise."

"Um… how exactly does that work?"

"It's simple," Kaguya said. "I merely locked my mind in eternity. In that way, the time passed without me needing to consciously experience it."

"Oh," Mokou said. "Um, clever. That never occurred to u-um, why did it take a month? Why didn't you do that right away?"

"I had to think of it first, and being in a sun kind of makes that hard, even when you're as used to pain as I am. Then I had to figure out a way to have the effect wear off, or else I'd remain in such a state for eternity. You have no idea how tricky it is to make a non-eternal eternity."

"Um, right."

"I did, of course, figure it out. I used the chamber I was in as the anchor for the effect. This didn't put the entire chamber in the effect-I made it so that it happened only to me-but it did ensure that the effect would end as soon as I was no longer within the chamber. It ended when you pulled me out. After that, it was just ordinary unconsciousness. Until now, of course."

Right," Mokou said. "Um-"

A noise cut Mokou of, and she immediately took a ready position, sword in hand. Kaguya got to her feet. "What? What is it?"

"Shades."

* * *

><p><strong>And there we go. A few notes:<strong>

**1: This story does not share continuity with Orphan or any of my other stories. There will likely be familiar elements, which may include certain character backstories, some character pairings, the ways Gensokyo works, the age of Gensokyo and the spellcard system (I've always thought they should be less recently established), that sort of thing. But that's all; there's no continuity.**

**2: Some characters may seem out-of-character when they first appear, but remember that it's been five hundred years. People change over that much time. And yes, I do plan to go into some of what happened in those five hundred years to cause such changes.**

**3: To those who've played NieR: No spoilers, please.**

**4: I'd really like more feedback than I got with Orphan, so please don't hesitate to say whatever you think. Hell, even a 'that was good' is better than nothing. And if you've played NieR, let me know what you think about how I'm integrating those elements into Gensokyo.**

**5: I know this chapter's fairly short, but future chapters should be longer. **

**6: As with Orphan, updates may be infrequent, but they will come.**

**Right, that's all I can think of right now. Enjoy the story.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Lost Mausoleum

**Chapter 2  
><strong>_The Lost Mausoleum_

Kaguya got to her feet. "What the hell are Shades?"

"They are," Mokou said.

The creatures that emerged from the surrounding forest were like nothing Kaguya had ever seen. Their forms were humanoid, but… well, not just inhuman, but… Kaguya had no idea how to describe it. It was almost like they didn't fully exist. Their forms were shadowy, and seemed to… to shift, or something. Even their coloration was inconsistent, always a combination of black and yellow but ever-changing. And the weapons they wielded were the same way. "What the hell?"

"Nobody really knows," Mokou said. "They just came out of nowhere one day. The day you attacked, actually."

"From your reaction, I assume they're hostile."

"They are."

"Are they all that small?" The Shades she and Mokou were facing stood at about half her height.

"No," Mokou said. "These are just one variety. Fairy-types, they're known as."

"They don't look much like fairies."

"They're small, weak, annoying, and there's a lot of 'em. What else would you call them?"

"Good point." A pause. "Um, are they going to attack?"

"I'm surprised they haven't yet."

"Do you think they're waiting, or something?"

"They've never done that before, but it does kind of look-" Mokou cut off as more Shades emerged, larger ones. "Okay, it _definitely_ looks like they were waiting for backup."

"These ones are larger," Kaguya noted.

Mokou nodded. "Human-types; they're pretty average in every respect. This is a large group, too, larger than any I've seen. And I think they're ready to attack. Try not to die."

Kaguya took a ready stance. "You're worried about dying? Someone who's immortal? Is there something about these creatures I should know?"

"I don't know what would happen if they killed one of us," Mokou said. "They've never managed to take me down. But they've injured me, and although the wounds do heal, there's something different about wounds they inflict. Don't ask me what. All I know is they feel weird and take a little longer to heal. And hurt differently while healing. I don't know what would happen if the things killed me, and I'm not eager to find out."

"Right. Any combat tips?"

"They're resistant to magic," Mokou said. "Not immune; it just doesn't hurt them quite as much as it should, especially pure shots. You can't think in danmaku terms against these things. Distance also affects it. The best way to fight is with a combination of physical weapons and stronger magic at close range."

"Do they use magic?"

"Kind of. Almost all just random shots, and most can barely fire off any at all. Magician-types can fire off a hell of a lot, but I don't see any of those. The shots can be deflected or destroyed with weapons. Getting hit hurts more than you'd think, though."

"Can they fly?"

"Only certain types."

"Then should we run?"

Mokou pointed up. "Tengu-types are above us. They fly, they're fast, and they can put out some sort of field that slows aerial movement. They're less resistant to magic, which is good, because going airborne and trying to close in doesn't really work very well. They won't deploy the field if you're only a few feet off the ground, though, or if you're only airborne for a couple seconds, so you can use it for combat moves. Expect them to stay in the air and not attack us; they only attack if you try to fly, and they tend to flee if they're the only ones left, so we don't really need to worry about them."

"Right. Um, do you think these things are waiting for something? Is that why they haven't attacked yet?"

"It hasn't happened before," Mokou said, "but then again, neither has Shades just standing around like this instead of attacking."

"So something's different what the hell is that thing?"

The creature that emerged looked like a human-type Shade, except several times larger. "I've never seen one that size," Mokou said. "Looks like it's what they were waiting for, though, because here they come!"

The Shades charged. Kaguya was ready to meet their charge, but Mokou held her back. As the Shades closed a wall of fire blazed into existence in their path. They charged right through it, but not unscathed. Many were burned, and others were burning. "Softening them up." Mokou dissipated the flames. "They'll die quickly now. Go!"

The two immortals attacked. Kaguya thrust her sword through one's chest, and as it fell to the ground, she swung the sword through another one's neck. But although the Shade recoiled in pain, its head remained attached. "Huh?"

"Don't ask me," Mokou said, grabbing one Shade and throwing it into another. "They don't suffer injuries for some reason. Damage them enough and they die, but until the point of death, it doesn't affect them in any way." Mokou impaled a Shade until it fell to the ground.

Kaguya formed a magic field around herself. Reaching her would require passing through it, enduring the pain and damage it caused. But to Kaguya's surprise, the Shades did exactly that. Taken off guard, Kaguya was unable to react in time. They would have struck her if not for Mokou igniting them with her flames. "Really, Kaguya? You're letting them almost get you like that? You're a better fighter than this."

Kaguya threw a Shade to the ground and stomped on its head. "You've been my only enemy for hundreds of years. I may be a little rusty when it comes to fighting anyone else. Also, how the hell was I supposed to know they'd charge right through that? Are they suicidal or something?"

A group of fairy-typed leapt onto Mokou, only to be flung off by an explosion of flame. "I believe I mentioned that they attack mindlessly."

"Then why's the big one just standing there? Why isn't it attacking?"

"I've never seen one of those before. How the hell should I know?"

Kaguya leapt over a Shade and impaled it from behind. "How the hell should I know what you know?"

Mokou cut through a Shade vertically. "Shut up and fight!"

Kaguya sent a barrage of lasers through a group of human-types, keeping them staggered as she ran in and cut through them. "You shut up and fight!"

Mokou slammed a Shade into the ground and bashed its head against a rock. "You're the one asking questions! Right, almost done."

"Just a few left, but the big one's coming in!"

"I'll handle the big one," Mokou said. The only weapons the larger Shade had were its fists, and as Mokou ran at it, it took a swing. Mokou ducked under the strike, cutting at the arm as it passed over her. She leapt over it, spinning around and carrying a slash into its back all the way down its leg to the ground. It tried to kick her, but she ducked around its foot and cut it through the ankle.

The Shade turned around and reached for Mokou. Mokou jumped on top of its hand and ran up its arm, thrusting her sword through its head. It tried to grab her, but she pushed away and jumped back to the ground. The Shade faced Mokou and swept its arm close to the ground, sending out a crescent-shaped blast that caught Mokou off-guard. _Gah! The damn thing uses magic?_

Mokou circled around the Shade, waiting for another blast, and before long, the Shade fired one off. Mokou immediately charged the creature, leaping over the blast and thrusting her sword into its eye-or, rather, into whatever the odd-looking thing was that was where the eye should be.

Mokou rebounded off the ground. She stuck her sword into the Shade's arm and swung around, cutting all the way around the arm. Then she kicked off and slashed down the length of the other arm before rebounding off it. She landed on the Shade's head and thrust her sword straight down. The Shade staggered, paused, and then fell to the ground, dead. And like all dead Shades, its form faded away, leaving no sign of the creature that had been there just a few seconds ago.

Kaguya came up beside Mokou. "Pretty good. I finished off the other ones. And you were right about the tengu ones; they're gone. Why do the bodies vanish like that?"

"One more thing nobody knows."

"Right," Kaguya said. "Okay, there's the orange tint, these Shades, and I'm assuming there's a few things I haven't seen yet. Maybe you should tell me just what all happened over the last five hundred years."

"I'll tell you what I know. It began five hundred years ago, on the day you attacked us. I was underground and didn't witness it, but the beginning of all this was an event known as the Radiance. Many things changed in that instant, such as the sky, and it's also when the Shades first appeared.

"Nobody knows what the Radiance actually was, or what caused it; only its effects are known. Those include the sky and the Shades, and also…"

* * *

><p><em>Many people died when the Shades appeared, but no deaths had more impact than those of Reimu Hakurei and Yukari Yakumo.<em>

_Gensokyo is a land separate from the outside world, a place for that which the outside world no longer believes exists. It is kept separate by the Hakurei Border, named for the family line that created it and has maintained it since its creation a couple thousand years ago. If the border were to fall, it would mean Gensokyo's end._

_The border is tied to the Hakurei Shrine. Not the physical structure, of course; that has been destroyed multiple times. No, the border is tied to the shrine's spiritual properties. But that alone is insufficient to maintain it. It must also be tied to the power that created it, the power of the Hakurei maidens. Without that connection to a living Hakurei maiden, the border would collapse. And in the initial Shade attacks, Reimu was killed and the shrine destroyed._

_By the date of the Radiance, Reimu did, in fact, have a daughter. And that daughter was not killed. The witch Marisa Kirisame did not arrive in time to save Reimu, but she was able to rescue Reimu's daughter, Renia. Renia was not yet a shrine maiden and did not have the connection to the border, but she would as soon as the ritual was performed. There was, however, a problem: Renia was an infant, not even six months old. Someone so young could not withstand the spiritual effects of the ritual; had it been performed, it would have killed her._

_At the time, of course, I had no idea what was happening; Byakuren and the rest of us were far too busy at the temple. We, along with most others, learned of these events later on from Ran Yakumo, Yukari Yakumo's former shikigami._

_Yukari's power over boundaries should have enabled her to sustain the border long enough for Renia to become old enough to withstand the ritual, but she found herself unable to stabilize the border. The Shades' attack had somehow damaged it. Somehow-likely because of some property of whatever the hell the Shades are-when they destroyed the physical shrine, they also affected it spiritually, and whatever effect they had on it carried over to the border._

_Given that nobody knows exactly how the border ended up damaged, I should probably stop trying to explain it and get to the effects. The border had become corrupted, and as a result, it was resistant to Yukari's abilities. Which was a problem, as the border was beginning to collapse and Yukari's intervention was needed. But Yukari kept trying. She gave it everything she had, and eventually, she succeeded in stabilizing the border, as well as purging it of the corruption from the Shade attack. But what she did had two major side-effects. One of these, of course, was her death. She had given everything she had to stabilize the border, given too much, and though she succeeded in saving the border, doing so cost her her life. That was one side-effect. As for the other, well..._

_Saving the border had required Yukari to completely seal it. I don't know what exactly she did, but it had the effect of strengthening the border and making it absolute. Before, it had separated Gensokyo from the outside worlf, but after, it cut Gensokyo off from other worlds, as well. It is no longer possible to travel to or from the Netherworld, or Makai, or Higan (although it's assumed that people still end up there when they die). Gensokyo is cut off from all other worlds. The underground is still accessible, of course, as it is part of Gensokyo, and the same goes for heaven. But any place that is not part of Gensokyo, any place that was merely connected to Gensokyo, can no longer be reached. Gensokyo had been saved, but only at the cost of isolation._

_When she was old enough, Renia underwent the ritual to become the Hakurei maiden. Yukari's actions saved the border, but according to Ran, it was still most likely not completely stable without a connection to a Hakurei maiden. Any collapse would take far, far longer, leaving a significant margin in case of similar situations, but eventually, even if it took hundreds of years, the border would collapse without a Hakurei maiden to sustain it. Renia inherited her mother's task, and she passed that task down to her daughters. Thus, the Hakurei line and its duty still remain. _

* * *

><p>"So basically," Kaguya said, "you don't know what this 'Radiance' was, and you don't know what caused it. It spawned the Shades, which you don't know the nature of. The land is basically dying, and you don't know why. Shade activity has been on the rise recently, and you don't know why. There's this 'Black Scrawl' thing that nobody knows anything about. Is that everything, or is there anything else you don't know?"<p>

"Look, nobody knows what the hell happened, okay?"

"Yeah, okay, fine. Different topic, then. Why'd you get me out?"

"Excuse me?"

"It's been five hundred years since I was thrown into that room, but you only now got me out. Why? What prompted you to do so?"

"Nothing I'm interested in telling you about," Mokou said. "It's kind of personal."

"Was it the hell raven? Did she decide I'd been punished enough?"

"No," Mokou said. "Quite the opposite. She's more pissed off at you than ever. She's been talking about killing your people in retaliation for what you did. And that's in addition to leaving you in a star."

"Killing my-wait, what?"

"She wants to break out of Gensokyo, go to the moon, and do to you what you did to her. And I don't think she's worrying about minimizing casualties."

"W-why?"

"Look, I don't know what happened, okay? About a month ago, she just lost it, I don't know why. I think she'd almost forgotten about you, but now she's suddenly obsessed. I don't know what the hell happened, but it drove her over the edge. She's starting to remind me of the damned Shades, okay?"

"The Shades?"

"She's suddenly gone hostile towards an entire people. That's one step closer to the Shades."

"Wait, so you think they did something to her, and you think this because she's been acting a little bit closer to how they behave? You think that her hating my people proves that she's turning into one of them? Well, let me tell you something: I did _plenty_ to cause her to hate me, and I'm Lunarian royalty, a representative of my people. I can easily see her hatred turning to all of us. If she hates my people, it's my fault. Shades have nothing to do with it."

"There was a Shade attack," Mokou said. "On the day her attitude changed, Shades attacked the underground. Before the attack, she was normal, and after it, she was the way she is now. I don't know what happened to her during that attack, but whatever it was is the reason she changed."

"Oh. Um..."

"Forget it, Kaguya."

The pair was silent for a while. Eventually, Kaguya spoke. "Well, you got me out. What's next?"

"I assume your first thought is to return to Eientei."

"Yes. Um, is everyone else still there?"

"That," Mokou said, "is a good question. Eientei has… changed. One more thing nobody knows the cause of. Or the nature of the change. What I can tell you is that apparently nobody's been able to truly get inside. They can enter, yes, but no matter what, they always end up coming out, regardless of which passages they take. The place is… warped, I guess."

"Then I have to go there. I have to see what's happening. But… I don't recognize this part of the forest. Which way is Eientei?"

"It's been five hundred years, Kaguya. Of course you don't recognize the forest. You've missed five hundred years of growth."

"Good point. So, which way?"

"None right now," Mokou said. "We'll go tomorrow, not while it's dark. There's an abandoned hut just over that way. Not good for much more than a roof over your head these days, but it's usable. I've been using it, as it turns out that my old home isn't there anymore. Not surprising, given how long I've lived underground, but it did mean I had to find somewhere else. So I'm using this abandoned hut. It's my home now, and I'm heading back there for the night. I've got some food prepared, and it's a place to sleep. I'll take you to Eientei tomorrow; if you want to go now, you're on your own."

Kaguya took a moment to think. "Well, I guess you know the current world better than I do. If you think it's best to wait until morning, I will."

"Shades are more active at night. It's better to wait until day."

"Very well, then. We'll go tomorrow."

* * *

><p>The ruined Temple of Myouren was a familiar sight, although it had been some time since Nue had last been there. As planned, she'd left for the ruins in the morning. Byakuren was not with her; she'd remained in the village, providing aid to those in need as she always did. This investigation was Nue's task. But despite Byakuren's absence, Nue was not alone at the temple, as she saw upon her arrival. Another was standing among the ruins.<p>

The oni Yuugi Hoshiguma turned to face Nue as she landed. "Nue. Wasn't expecting to see you here."

"And I wasn't expecting to see you," Nue said. "What are you doing here, Yuugi?"

"Shades seem to be gathering here. I came to kill 'em. You?"

"I'm looking into why Shades would be gathering here. Byakuren and I think it may have something to do with the mausoleum."

"The mausoleum?"

Nue nodded. "If nothing else, one would expect such a location to appeal to the Shades, given their apparent dislike of sunlight. But until now, there hasn't been any sign of them moving in this direction."

"I came through here a couple weeks ago," Yuugi said. "Thought the same thing, that the place would have a bunch of Shades, but it didn't. It's only over the past couple days that I've heard people saying Shades were heading this way. And I've already checked what's left of the temple. No Shades up here, so if they have been coming here, then they've got to be down below. I was about ready to head down when you showed up. You're heading down, too, right? Let's go in together."

"I had the same thought," Nue said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><em>Yuugi hates the Shades. Nobody is exactly fond of the shades, of course, but Yuugi's hate is on an entirely different level. An understandable one, though.<em>

_A month ago, there was a Shade attack underground. Hardly the first time Shades had shown up down there, of course, and whenever they did, the oni took 'em out without a problem. But this time was different._

_The underground is the former site of hell, called the Hell of Blazing Fires. And although hell relocated long ago, the blazing fires remain. For a long time, the only way to reach them was through the Palace of Earth Spirits, but when the reactor project began, a new way in was made, and it was that path by which the Shades got in._

_The Palace of Earth Spirits sits on a hill far above the city, set against the edge of the underground. The massive cavern that houses the fires is within this hill. When Hell was underground, the fires were spread throughout the entire area, with only the hill rising above them. When hell was moved, the fires were contained within the location now knows as the Former Hell of Blazing Fires, a place where none but the kasha and the hell ravens could survive. Any of the fires that remained outside simply died out. This was thousands of years ago, and the fires were contained within from then on. Until the Shade attack._

_As with everything else about the Shades, how they did it is a mystery; breaching the containment, set up by the Yamaxanadu herself, was supposed to be impossible. But when the Shades attacked, it was breached, and the fires poured out. Once again, the fires flooded the underground, only the hill and the palace remaining above them._

_The oni had almost no warning, and most perished in the flood of flames. Some, however, did manage to make it out, including Yuugi, one of the four Devas. Another Deva, Suika, had been living above-ground since before the Radiance, so she, of course, also survived. Neither of the other Devas did, though, and most of the oni died with them. The surviving oni fled to the surface. They've taken up residence in a small, formerly uninhabited area of the Forest of Magic._

_Until Suika first came to the surface, the oni were spoken of mainly in myths and legends. Because of this, the region of the forest they inhabit has come to be known as the Forest of Myth. It is Yuugi's home, too, but she spends little time there. She hunts the Shades, now, in vengeance for the deaths of her people. She's been to the human village a couple times, eager to hear of any Shade sightings. It's not really a surprise, then, that with Shades apparently heading towards the temple and/or the mausoleum, she would head there as well._

* * *

><p>The path to the mausoleum lay beneath the graveyard behind the temple. Nue led Yuugi to the cemetery, through the passage beneath it, and into the mausoleum.<p>

Yuugi took a look around the massive entry hall. "Pretty impressive," she said. "You've been here before, right?"

"Just a couple times," Nue said. "I know the basic layout of the place, but I wouldn't say I'm very familiar with it. Miko's group used this place, not us."

"Doesn't really look like a mausoleum."

"Yeah, don't ask me why they call it that. The full name is 'Dream Palace Great Mausoleum'."

"Well, the 'palace' part is certainly a more accurate description, but, well, I'm not really sure I can say it looks too much like one of those, either. Kind of, but not quite. Almost like a cross between a palace and a mansion. Guess it doesn't matter, though. Let's go kill some Shades."

* * *

><p>"You said Eientei's been warped," Kaguya said. "Any dangers in the area?"<p>

"Not that I know of," Mokou said. "Well, except for any Shades that wander close. Those damn things are everywhere."

"You think we'll run into another group?"

"How the hell should I know? There's no telling when or where those things will show up."

"So you basically know nothing about what to expect."

"Shut it," Mokou said. "Come on, let's just go."

* * *

><p>Yuugi slammed a Shade into the wall, then took hold of the creature's arm and tore it off. Then Nue finished it off with a trident through the chest area. "You seem to enjoy doing that," she remarked as the Shade fell to the ground.<p>

"It's satisfying," Yuugi said. "Plus, it gets good reactions from people who think Shades can't be injured, just damaged and killed. Guess they don't realize you can rip limbs off them. Course, most people don't have enough strength to do it. That's basically just an oni thing."

"You can blow limbs off if you channel magic in. Pretty much requires a magic-imbued weapon that's pierced into it. Most people just don't bother to try it; there are more efficient ways to take the things out."

"Not as satisfying, though," Yuugi said. "Right, that makes a grand total of three Shades so far, all human-types. So much for the damn things gathering here."

"Can't you feel it? There's something here. I can't tell what, but there's something. I think it's fairly small, but it's there."

"You know oni don't have the same level of magical sensitivity as other youkai. If it's a small thing, I'll sense it once we're close. You'll have to lead the way. Is it on this floor, or are we going further up?"

"We're on the top floor," Nue said, "so no, we're not going higher. And yes, it's here. It seems to be in… this direction."

Nue set off down the hall, Yuugi following behind her. Before long, they entered a small room, empty and, except for another door on the opposite wall, completely featureless. "Right," Yuugi said, "the hell's the point of this?"

Through the door was another room just like the first one. Except that this one wasn't empty. It was full of large cube blocks, many right next to each other. "Okay," Yuugi said, "forget the last room. What's the point of this one?"

Nue examined the arrangement of blocks. "This is deliberate," she said. "The bloks were arranged like this deliberately."

"Looks pretty random to me. And look, there's a couple blocking the next door."

"And the doors seem to be opening towards us, which means they can't be opened with blocks in the way. That's one of the things that jumped out at me. In addition, those two blocks are blue-ish, and the others are brown."

"So…?"

Nue walked over to one of the blue block and pulled it. "Damn, these things are heavy. No way a human could move one, at least not alone." After mobbing it two block-lengths back, she pulled the other one back. But it could only be pulled one block-length before one of the brown blocks was in the way. But there was now a clear space to the side, which Nue pushed it into. "There we go."

"Um…"

"It's a puzzle," Nue said. "You have to move the blocks the right way in order to move on." She pushed one of the brown blocks, but it didn't move even slightly. "Thought so. Only the blue ones are movable."

"…Why the hell would someone make something like this?"

"No clue," Nue said. "Come on."

The next room held another block puzzle. This time, five blue blocks were arranged in a T shape, with the head of the T against the door slightly off-center, leaving only half the leftmost block of the head actually in front of the door. Brown blocks were positioned a half-length away from either end of the head, and others a half-block away from the stem blocks. More brown blocks completed the enclosure, preventing the blue ones from being simply pulled away.

Nue examined the arrangement briefly, then went to work. "Okay, bottom one to the left… next one to the right and in beside the bottom one… middle stem block pulled out and moved left… right stem block a half-length over and back to beside the center stem block… left stem block a half-length to the left… aaaaaaaaaand done."

Another block puzzle awaited them in the next room. "This one looks trickier," Nue said. "Give me a minute."

"To hell with this," Yuugi said. She jumped onto one of the blocks in front of the door and tore the door out of the wall. "There," she said, tossing the door aside.

"…That works, too," Nue said. "Right, let's go."

They moved on, Yuugi simply removing the doors in order to bypass the block puzzles. Before long, they came to another empty room. This time, the next door was on the right wall. "Okay," Yuugi said, "I'm feeling something now."

"It'll be in the next room, I think. Come on."

The room they entered was longer and wider, and kind of had the look of a hallway, although far wider than most. There were two notable features immediately visible. One was the altar-like structure at the other end, flanked by two worn-colored, lance-holding, armored stone statues. But it was the other that demanded immediate attention. "Well," Yuugi said, "I think we've found the Shades."

"All fairy-types," Nue said. "Huh. Right, let's-whoa!"

One of the Shades let loose a brief barrage of magic. Despite being caught by surprise, Nue and Yuugi had no difficulties dodging it, thanks to their experience in danmaku fights.

"That's the kind of burst you don't see from any Shades but magician-types," Nue said. "Are there magician/fairy combo Shades now?"

"Fight now, think later."

"Probably a good idea. Let's go."

* * *

><p><em>The magic used by Shades is different from any other magic known. It's actually most like danmaku. Like danmaku, Shade magic consist of multiple shots. Danmaku shots tend to be varied in form, but Shade shots are always reddish spheres. In addition, danmaku is meant to be non-lethal, but Shade shots actually are harmful, and in fact much more damaging than one might expect. They can, however, be blocked with weapons, as well as destroyed with weapon strikes or magic of one's own. And, interestingly enough, when destroyed, the magic that formed the shots remains for a brief moment before dissipating, during which time you can use it for your own magic.<em>

_Most Shades don't use magic at all. They can normally only manage a few scattered shots, which is fairly worthless. Some varieties can do better, though. Magician-types, of course, are the most obvious example, and they do fire more than any other types, but tengu-types and others can fire off decent numbers, as well. The 'patterns', though, are quite rudimentary and barely qualify as patterns. And that's when the shots aren't just in a scattered burst. The most you'll see from a Shade is a vertical wall, or periodic waves, or maybe a spiral pattern._

_As with everything else about the Shades, nobody knows why their magic is the way it is. It's just one more strange thing about them._

* * *

><p>Yuugi finished off the last Shade with a punch to the face. "Right, then. Nue, you're the one who wants to know why they're here. Think it has something to do with that altar?<p>

Before Nue could answer, the two stone statues stepped away from the wall and readied their weapons. "That's new," Nue remarked.

The statues charged, one at Nue and the other at Yuugi. Nue leapt to the side and hit it with a beam as it ran by. Yuugi,on the other hand, met her statue's charge head-on, avoiding its lance and delivering a punch to its torso, sending it flying into the wall. "What the hell?"

Nue's statue stopped its charge and turned to face Nue again. This time, Nue leapt over it as it charged. "What?"

Yuugi's statue was getting up. "I don't think they're made of stone. That did not feel like stone when I punched it."

Nue landed and fired another beam. "Then what did it feel like?"

"It felt like a Shade."

"Are you saying these things are Shades?"

"No idea, but I'd bet they take damage like 'em. We can think once they're dealt with."

"Right."

Yuugi's statue charged. Yuugi met its charge again, but this time the statue jumped over her, thrusting its lance downwards. Yuugi sidestepped and grabbed the lance, which the statue still held, and swung it, slamming the statue into the ground. Yuugi tried to swing it overhead and slam it down again, but this time the statue let go of the lance during the upwards arc, slamming down on top of Yuugi.

Nue sidestepped a strike from her statue and thrust at it with her trident. Yuugi, it seemed, was right; the trident didn't impact as though it had hit stone; it instead pierced into the statue, and when Nue swung it to the side, it moved as though it was passing through the strange combination of substance and nothing that was a Shade's physical form.

The statue spun around, swinging its lance at Nue like a sword. Nue leaps over the strike onto the statue's head and thrust her trident into it. She pulled her trident out, then found that the statue was no longer beneath her; Yuugi had thrown hers into it, and both impacted the wall.

Both statues got to their feet, but then the one Yuugi had been fighting knelt down, and a barrier formed around it. "A new trick," Yuugi said. "Seems like a dumb one, too. Looks like it has to stay in that position to use the barrier. Which makes this two against one."

The other statue took hold of the barrier, lifted it-the first statue still inside-and threw it. Nue and Yuugi dove to the sides, and the thrown statue hit the wall. But upon hitting the wall, it bounced off. Nue leapt over it as it came at her. "Shit!"

"Guess it's not so dumb a trick."

"Yeah, watch out. The damn thing's bouncing all over the room."

"I'll take care of that," Yuugi said. "You deal with the other one."

"Be careful."

"Like hell." Yuugi watched the protected statue as it bounced around the room. As soon as it was on a path that would bring it close to her, she got in its path held her hands out. It hit her, and she pushed against it as hard as she could. It pushed her back at first, but she soon halted it.

Nue charged the non-barriered statue. She fired beams from the tips of her trident, hitting the statue's weapon, but the statue kept hold of it. Nue cut off the beams and threw her trident into the statue's face. It swung at her as she approached, but she leapt over the strike, pulling her trident out of its face. She landed on its head and was about to thrust her trident in, but then she saw what Yuugi was doing and got the hell out of the way.

Yuugi picked up the barriered statue and threw it at the active one, sending both into the wall. The barriered one bounced back at Yuugi, who stopped it again. The other statue was motionless for a moment, and then it fell to pieces.

As it couldn't move on its own with the barrier active, the remaining statue dropped the barrier and thrust its lance at Yuugi. Yuugi dodged the strike and kicked its hand, knocking the lance out of its grasp. She picked the lance up and threw it, sending it right through the statue's left eye. The statue staggered forward, then fell to the ground.

"Well," Yuugi said, "that was fun. Any idea what the hell was up with those things?"

"Not a clue," Nue said, "but it looked like they were protecting the altar. There may be a clue there."

The pair approached the altar, quickly seeing that yes, there was something there. Nue picked it up and examined it. The object was a stone tablet. The back side of the tablet was completely smooth, but the front had indentations in it. There were eight in total, forming a hexagonal pattern, and one of them had a smooth black object fitted in it. The indentations were all of different shapes; each one, obviously, corresponded to a specific object. "One of eight," Nue said. "I'd assume there are seven more of these black things somewhere."

"I don't really want to search this whole place for seven small whatevers," Yuugi said. "What about that inscription at the bottom? I can't read it; can you?"

"It's not a script I've seen before. We should ask Ari. And Miko, since this place used to be hers."

"I'll pass. I'm not interested in these odd mysteries. Do let me know if you ever have more Shades that need killing, though."

"That," Nue said, "I'll be sure to do."

* * *

><p>"This is most unusual," Aki said. "In all my lives, I have never seen something quite like this."<p>

Nue was in Ari's house; she'd gone there immediately upon her return to the village to show the Child of Miare the tablet. And Byakuren had come, as well. "I have seen many such objects during my life," Byakuren said. "What makes this one unusual?"

"The inscription. Or inscriptions, as I should say. This may look like one inscription, but it is actually two."

"How can you tell?" Nue asked.

"They are written in different scripts. And I only know one of the scripts, so I can only tell you part of what's written here."

"And what does that part say?"

"It says, 'The eight pieces face the shade's black mark. Seek with them the agent of change.'"

"Cryptic," Byakuren remarked.

"'Black mark'," Nue said. "Do you think it means the Black Scrawl?"

"You think so?" Ari asked.

"She's hoping so," Byakuren replied. "Nue jumps at anything that might involve the Black Scrawl."

"Understandably."

"That's certainly true enough. But, Nue, even if that is what it's referring to, it still gives nothing to go on."

"It said all eight pieces," Nue said. "Right now, there's only one of them in there. Step one would be to find the other seven."

"With no clues as to their location," Byakuren said, "such a search would likely be futile. And that's assuming it's ever referring to the Black Scrawl at all."

"Obviously," Nue said. "Before I decide on anything, I'm taking the tablet to Seafront. Miko or one of her people may know something."

"I find it unlikely that any of them knows of this object."

"They may recognize the second script, though," Ari said. "I cannot read it myself, but it does have similarities to the scripts of various temples and such. Given where it was found, it's not unreasonable at all to think that one or more of Miko's group know it."

"A good point. And I doubt I could stop Nue from going, anyways."

"You've got that right," Nue said. "If there's even a chance this can help save you, I'm not passing it up."

"I understand," Byakuren said. "Hmm… you know, it really has been too long since I last spoke with Miko. I think I shall accompany you to Seafront, Nue."

* * *

><p>"Woah," Kaguya said.<p>

"I did tell you Eientei was warped," Mokou said.

"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting… is it on its side and upside-down simultaneously?"

"I don't know what the hell's up with the place."

"How do we get in?"

"The entrance is where it's always been, even if it's not."

"What?"

"Just go in from where the entrance is supposed to be," Mokou said. "Even if you don't see anything there, it'll work. Or it did when I tried it, at least."

"You have Eientei memorized to the extent that you can find the exact location of the entrance without being able to see it in any reliable way?"

"Even after five hundred years underground, I still know it better than you ever have. Although we're on equal footing once we get inside."

"You're coming in with me?"

"I want to know what happened to everyone here, too. I haven't been able to make any sort of progress, but you may pick up on something I've missed."

"I see."

"Come on, let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>Nue and Byakuren left right away. Ari was going to look into the object and its inscriptions, but with her perfect memory, she didn't need it in order to do so. "Unfortunately, remembering everything doesn't mean I'm aware of its significance," she'd said. "There are no direct references in anything I've seen to such an object, which means indirect references, connections I was not able to see before. Exact textual representations may be important. I'll need to cross-reference multiple volumes, compare with additional material, look for possible word games, consider-"<p>

Nue and Byakuren had left soon after, heading south towards the ocean town of Seafront. On their way out, they made a slight detour to see Keine. "Ah, Byakurem," she said upon seeing the pair. "And Nue, too. What can I do for you?"

"We have business in Seafront," Nue said. "We wanted to let you know where we were heading. You know, in case someone's trying to find us.

Keine nodded. She was quite used to being treated as the village problem-solver; people often came to her asking for any number of things. Nue came to her often for information on possible jobs. "Got it," Keine said.

"Will you be all right with us both gone?" Byakuren asked. "By which I mean will the villagers be all right? With both myself and Nue gone, there may be concern, given the increased Shade activity we've been seeing recently."

"We've got fighting ability here," Keine said. "My own presence-as I've told you many times before-should be enough to comfort them, and I believe Yuugi Hoshiguma is in the village as well. At a bar, no doubt, but she is here."

"Yeah, I saw her at the temple earlier," Nue remarked.

"In addition, Tenshi should be here soon. In fact, she really should have arrived already. I have to wonder what's keeping-"

Keine was cut off by an object impacted the ground hard nearby. The dust kicked up quickly cleared, revealing the form of Tenshi Hinanai stepping off of one of her keystones. "Hi."

Keine sighed. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

"Not enough."

"Aparently. Stones falling from the sky doesn't really help the people's nerves, you know."

"Yeah, yeah." Tenshi and Keine embraced. "Sorry I'm late."

The pair separated after a moment. "What kept you?" Keine asked.

"The recent upswing in Shade activity has heaven's leadership up in arms; it took me longer than expected to get away. They're still trying to get me to take part, to 'assume a role befitting the eldest child of the Hinanai.' The fact that I don't want anything to do with the celestial bureaucracy doesn't seem to register with them at all."

"The fact that you're the reason heaven has lost so little to the Shades may also be a factor."

"Hey, it's not my fault none of them could fight worth a damn until the Shades showed up and gave everyone a reason to learn. Me and Iku were the only good fighters up there, and she had other duties, so it's not my fault I ended up as the fighting teacher, either. And I only did it 'cause it was fun, anyways. Doesn't stop the leadership from seeing it as me 'finally becoming worthy of the name 'Hinanai', though."

"Right," Nue said, "we'll leave you two to talk about heaven. Come on, Byakuren, let's get going."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, KeineTenshi. That pairing just appeals to me for some reason, I'm not really sure why.**

**So Nue had her first adventure, based on NieR's first dungeon area, the Lost Shrine. And she had some help, too. Yuugi's going to have a fairly large role, so we'll be seeing her again. I think a lot of us've wanted to take her approach to block puzzles.**

**FOr those of you who aren't familiar with NieR, I should mention that the way I described the Shade's magic is _actually how enemy magic works in the game_. Yes. They put danmaku in a hack-and-slash. Don't ask me why. All I know is that somehow, it works.**

**Well, that's all for this chapter. The next one will include Eientei, Seafront, and the first appearance of another character with a large role, so you can look forward to that.**

**And, of course, reviews are appreciated. The more you tell me, the better I can make this story.**


	3. Chapter 3: Daughter of the Lost Ruin

**Chapter 3**

_Daughter of the Lost Ruin_

"Things look remarkably normal," Kaguya said, gazing around Eientei's entrance hall. "A couple more hallways that I remember, but that's about it. Well, that, and there are usually people here."

At that moment, a… thing, somewhat resembling a rabbit youkai, wandered out of one of the hallways, seemingly unaware of anyone else's presence as it sang to itself

"_Restless souls will put on their dancing shoes_

_Mindless ghouls with lot of limbs to lose_

_Illusionists, contortionists,_

_Tightrope walkers tightening the noose."_

The creature, despite walking in a straight line, somehow ended up reentering the corridor it had emerged from. "That was… bizarre," Kaguya remarked.

"That was nothing," Mokou said. "Just wait until you're in three different rooms at the same time. While standing on the floor and ceiling simultaneously. Things get really strange in here."

"Right," Kaguya said, "let's just start exploring." She picked a hallway and started towards it, only to suddenly run into a wall. "Ow! Since when the hell is there a wall here? And why the hell can't I see it?"

"There isn't one," Mokou said. She walked right through the spot where Kaguya had hit a wall without difficulty. "It was just a random momentary shift. They happen."

"Right."

"About the only thing I can guarantee is that if you keep moving in one direction, you'll eventually get outside. Aside from that, nothing is certain, although I can say that it's very unlikely we'll get separated. Possible, but very unlikely."

"…Okay. Um, is any direction better than the others?"

"Nope. There's no guarantee you'll even be in the hallway you walk into."

"…Right. Let's just get moving."

* * *

><p>Miko was never very hard to find, but seeing her immediately upon entering the town was not what Nue and Byakuren had expected.<p>

Miko saw the pair and approached. "Byakuren, Nue. It's been a while, so I hate to do this right away, but there may be a situation. I was about to make an attempt of my own to resolve it, but I think you two-especially you, Byakuren-may be a much better choice."

"We came here to ask you about something," Byakuren said. "We will gladly aid you in return."

"Right," Nue said. She produced the tablet and handed it to Miko. "While we're helping you, you can look into this. I found it in your old mausoleum; I went in there earlier to investigate a possible Shade presence, and found a bunch of Shades in a room with that object, which was guarded by a pair of animate stone statues."

"I… I don't know of anything like that," Miko said. "Are you sure?"

"Very."

"Well, I'll see what I can do. If nothing else, some of this writing looks familiar. I think it's a script the Mononobe clan favored. I can't read it, but Futo probably can. I'll have her take a look at it."

"Thanks. Now, tell us about this 'situation'."

"Of course," Miko said. "There's an unknown youkai nearby. Head east along the beach and you'll find her. Nobody's seen her before today, and nobody knows who she is. Nobody's been able to get anything out of her, either. She has a tendency to ramble on about, well, things; nobody's been able to make much sense of it. People have tried to talk to her, but that quickly stopped. She attacks people seemingly at random. I sent Seiga to check it out, and the woman attacked her on sight. I was going to go investigate myself, but I think you may be the better choice. Especially since you have a companion with you. This woman seems to be quite powerful; having an ally will be good if she attacks."

"I see," Byakuren said. "We shall go speak with her, then."

"Thank you. Hopefully, I'll have some information for you when you return."

* * *

><p><em>Seafront is, as the name suggests, an oceanfront town. And yes, there is an ocean in Gensokyo. Gensokyo is much larger than most people seem to think. Understandably, though; the size of the area that was originally separated to become Gensokyo was far smaller than Gensokyo's actual size. Don't ask me how that works, because I have no idea.<em>

_Seafront, naturally, is a fishing town. It began as just an outpost, but as fishers saw continued success, more came. As often happens in such situations, the town sprang up around them. It's a fairly busy place, although it goes without saying that if the fishing stopped, the town would be done for. Not that there's much chance of that happening. In fact, fishing is one activity that actually hasn't become more dangerous, as no Shades have yet been encountered at sea._

_Miko's group set up in Seafront, just as Byakuren and I set up in the 'Human Village'. Unlike us, they suffered only one loss. Siega, Yoshika, Futo, and Miko are all still alive (well, except for Yoshika, since she's a jiang-shi). They do much the same sort of work as we do, although they are much more willing to accept payment than Byakuren. All in all, life in Seafront is about as good as it could be with Gensokyo as it is._

* * *

><p>"That has to be her," Nue said.<p>

The lone woman was standing on the beach, staring out at the ocean. She was fairly tall, and quite lean and muscular, in a way reminding Nue of an oni. She was wearing a simple yet elegant dress, violet in color. As Nue and Byakuren drew closer, they could see that it was covered by objects that appeared similar to scales.

At first, it looked like she was wearing something underneath the dress, as it could be seen on her legs and arms. And she was wearing something, but it wasn't ordinary clothing. It looked almost as though she had wrapped seaweed or something around her arms and legs, and there were streams of something similar-looking within her long, marine-blue hair.

"More people," the woman said, not bothering to even glance at the pair. "You… no, this is wrong. You shouldn't be here."

"I see," Byakuren said. "And why is that? Is there something dangerous about this location?"

The woman spun to face her, showing eyes that looked vaguely reptilian. "No. It is not this location."

_She's… distressed, it looks like,_ Nue thought. _Big time. And she looks about one step away from flipping out. We may have to fight her just to calm her down._ "Then what do you mean?"

"You shouldn't be here at all. Your kind should no longer exist in this world. But you do! Others like you do! This is not as things should be!"

"Please," Byakuren said, "stay calm. We want to help you."

"Then vanish!"

The woman charged. Byakuren stood her ground, then sidestepped at the last second. She grabbed the woman's arm, spun her around, and took hold of her. "Please, we don't need to fight! What is it? What's upsetting you?"'

The woman broke free of Byakuren's grasp and kicked her in the chest, sending her sailing backwards. Nue leapt into the air, pointed her trident, and fired a beam at the woman. The woman, however, simply raised her arm, forming an energy barrier to block the attack.

Despite the distance Byakuren had been knocked back, it took her very little time to get back to the fight. She came in from behind the woman and knocked her off her feet. "We haven't even introduced ourselves! Why do you think us enemies?"

"You are aberrations, not enemies."

Nue landed opposite Byakuren. "Right. Um, just who the hell are you, anyways?"

A geyser erupted from underneath the woman, knocking the pair back. It soon vanished, leaving the woman, now upright, hovering about a foot off the ground. "I am she who lays waste to the fallen world of man. I am Levia!"

Byakuren charged again, meeting her in the air, but this time, Levia blocked her strike. The pair exchanged blows briefly, until Byakuren caught Levia's fist in her hand. "Impressive skill," Levia said. "Yours surpasses mine."

"Your skill is impressive, too," Byakuren said. "As is your strength; it matches mine."

Levia resumed her strike, breaking through Byakuren's grasp and connecting with her face. "It exceeds yours." She grabbed Byakuren by the arm and flung her into the ground.

Nue formed several UFO familiars, all green ones. They all fired beams at Levia, and Nue added her own. Levia raised another barrier, only to take a strong blast from behind. The illusion of Nue faded, revealing another UFO, as the real Nue closed in. She moved to strike with her trident, only to find her arm ensnared by a whip.

"You employ trickery, deception," Levia said.

"Yeah," Nue said, "but unlike some who fight that way, I've got power to put behind it."

"Not enough to match mine."

"Maybe so, but that's where the trickery comes in. Interesting choice of weapon, by the way. First time in Gensokyo I've seen someone wielding a whip."

"What better means to deliver the serpent's strike?"

_Serpent? Is that what she is? Some sort of serpent youkai? Sea serpent? Sea something, definitely._ "You do have a point."

At that moment, Byakuren ran in and tore Nue free from the whip. "Please, Levia, stop this! Whatever the issue is, we can settle it peacefully!"

"No!" Levia lashed with her whip, wrapping it around Byakuren. "Peace should have vanished! Peace should have been no more by the time I awoke!" She slammed Byakuren into the ground. "Why are you still here? Why do you still exist in this world? People like you should be gone!"

Byakuren grabbed the whip and yanked, pulling Levia to her. She grabbed Levia and flung her over her shoulder and into the ground, taking the opportunity to unwrap herself. "Why do you say this? What do you mean?"

"I mean that we do not belong in the world together! I awaken once the righteous are no more!" Levia leapt up and attempted to grab Byakuren, but Byakuren sidestepped, grabbed Levia's arm, and threw her down again. But this time, Levia quickly pushed off the ground and landed a double kick, knocking Byakuren back.

Nue sent in red UFOs, which circled around and above Levia, leaving stationary shots behind them. They were harmless to Nue herself, of course, and so Nue simply passed through them, grabbing Levia and carrying her into as many of the shots as she could. It didn't take too long for Levia to break free, though. She tried to grab Nue, but Nue evaded, and the two landed facing each other. "You're pretty tough," Nue said.

"My power is without match in the world of man."

"Yeah? Well, as you've probably figured out by now, this isn't exactly the world of man. This is Gensokyo. There are a lot of powerful people here, and you're facing two of them. Don't think you can win just because you're powerful, too."

"Then we shall just have to see what the outcome is."

Levia struck, but Nue ducked to the side, smacking Levia on the head with the side of her trident. Levia seemed unfazed by the blow, however, and moved to retaliate. But then Byakuren was there, pushing Nue out of the way and deflecting Levia's strike. "Please, stop fighting. Whatever the problem is, violence will not solve it!"

"Silence! You know nothing of that about which you speak!" Levia leapt back, towards the water. She raised her arm, and a massive wave rose up behind her. The wave split into two as she brought her arm down, and when she thrust her hand forward, they formed into dense columns of water that shot forward, one each targeting Nue and Byakuren.

Nue and Byakuren waited until the columns were close, then took to the air, allowing the water to pass harmlessly beneath them. "Stop that talk, Byakuren," Nue said softly. "She's only upset when talking about that. She's much calmer when we're just commenting on the battle. Worry about what's going on once we've won."

"I suppose you're right," Byakuren said. "Very well, then. Let's get it over with."

* * *

><p>Mokou walked out of Eientei, finding Kaguya waiting for her. "Took you long enough," Kaguya said. "Didn't take your own advice for leaving?"<p>

"I did," Mokou said, "but there's no guarantee you'll get out immediately. I would assume that it simply took longer for me than it did for you. Even by Gensokyo's standards, whatever this place has turned into makes absolutely no sense."

"You've got that right. So, um, what now?"

"Excuse me?"

"You got me out," Kaguya said, "and you brought me here. What now? Are you planning on sticking around, or are you going to leave me to fend for myself?"

"I'm not leaving you alone just yet," Mokou said. "I didn't get you out of there just to leave you in the middle of nowhere. But don't think I plan on 'sticking around'. Once we've found somewhere for you to go, that's that."

"Then why do it at all? I understand why you and the hell raven had a falling out, but why rescue me? Just to spite her?"

"No," Mokou said. "Because putting you in there was wrong." _Far more wrong than what you did to me._ "I know very well how much you hate me right now, but even so, I'm not abandoning you in the middle of a changed land." _I've done enough to you already._

Kaguya sighed. "I knew you still felt that way. Mokou, I already told you; it wasn't you who threw me in there."

"Don't try to tell me I'm not guilty."

"No more guilty than I am."

"What I did to you was far worse than anything you've done to me."

"Really, Mokou? You think standing by while I was thrown into a star is worse than-"

Mokou held up her hand. "Wait. Do you sense that?"

"I sense… certainly something. What is it?"

"It's _her_." Mokou took off, flying quickly away.

_So much for not leaving me in a changed world,_ Kaguya thought. _Right, then._ She took off after Mokou.

* * *

><p>Levia ensnared Nue in her whip, slamming her into the ground. Byakuren pulled Nue free and threw her at Levia. Levia caught Nue, only for Byakuren to grab her from behind, break her grip on Nue, and throw her into the ground.<p>

Levia slowly got to her feet. "Your speed is as impressive as the rest of your physical performance."

"I specialize in self-enhancement," Byakuren said.

"I see. And your companion, though her style differs, is just as capable. I would not have thought that a mere two could do so well against me. Are people of such power common here?"

"There are strong people, weaker people, and everything in between. Not many are on the level of Nue and I, though there are some. You are finished with this fight, then?"

"I should never have attacked at all," Levia said.

"Yes, you should have," Nue said. "Sometimes, a good fight is exactly what you need."

"An interesting philosophy. And not one without merit, now that I consider it. The emotions that sparked my attack are still present, of course, but I have them under control. I think you are correct; the battle was helpful."

"Yeah. That sort of thing's pretty common here. We even have a system set up so we can fight without much risk of injury, and such battles are frequent. Or they used to be, at least; danmaku battles kind of became less frequent once the Shades appeared."

"Shades?"

"We can explain," Byakuren said, "but first, let us formally introduce ourselves. I am Byakuren Hijiri, and my companion is Nue Houjuu."

"I am Levia. And you can be honest; you desire to ask about me over providing such an explanation."

"I…"

"Do not concern yourself; I wish to discuss these matters, as well. It may be that doing so will be helpful to me."

"That's often true," Byakuren said. "All right, then. Where would you like to start?"

"I do not know what you desire to be told."

"Start with yourself," Nue said. "What exactly are you?"

"I am the one who lays waste to the world of man once the righteous have been taken."

"Taken," Byakuren said. "Taken where?"

"When the end comes, the righteous are to be granted eternity in paradise. When the end is to begin, they are taken by YHWH."

"Right," Nue said. "Who's Yah- Yeh- Y-"

"Most have difficulties with that word," Levia said. "It is commonly changed to 'Yahweh'."

"Yeah, it's a hard one. I'm not even sure that was technically a word. Were there even any vowel sounds in there?"

"No. That is one reason so many have trouble with it; it is unlike any word they have ever spoken. But we digress. You asked who YHWH is. The truth is that YHWH is not. He does not exist."

"Um…"

"I know of the realm I am in. I came into being in Gensokyo, and have slept here for a long time. I am aware of this world's nature. I have faded into the realm of legends, but YHWH has not."

"Please, tell us of this 'Yahweh'," Byakuren said, "and of these events you speak of."

"Very well. A full explanation would take a very long time, so I shall simply summarize the relevant information. First, YHWH. YHWH is God. Not a god as they actually exist. YHWH exists only in myth, and in that myth, he is the creator of all of existence. One of YHWH's direct servants, called 'angels', led a rebellion against him and was cast into Hell. This angel, Lucifer, more commonly known as 'Satan', is the source of evil. This evil infected the first humans, and the stain of sin was passed down from them and remains in all.

"YHWH decided to bring salvation to mankind. He manifested in the form of a son of himself, and that son died to redeem mankind."

"I think I've heard of that, actually," Nue said. "'Jesus', right?"

"Yes. The name of the son is Jesus Christ."

"Hold on," Byakuren said. "Nue, that name Sanae liked to call me, 'Youchrist', was that…?"

Nue nodded. "She was comparing you to Christ, yes. Apparently, there are similarities between the two of you. She told me about Jesus when I asked her what that name actually meant."

"I see." Byakuren turned back to Levia. "My apologies for that interruption, Levia. Please, continue."

"Worry not about it," Levia said. "I shall continue. Because of Jesus' sacrifice, mankind's sins are forgiven, but to find forgiveness, people must choose to seek it. They must truly regret their sins and truly desire to change their ways; only then are those sins forgiven. The wicked must become virtuous and regret their former wickedness before salvation is possible. As such, some will be saved, but others are beyond redemption."

"Nobody is beyond redemption," Byakuren said. "Everyone can change. Everyone can redeem themselves."

"But not everyone will. You recognize that, I hope."

"I do," Byakuren said. "It is sad, but true."

"Once everyone who will find redemption has done so, YHWH will take them into his realm, and it is this that begins the world's end. Satan will once more attempt to seize control, and YHWH will loose his judgment upon the world. I am a destroyer, unleashed to lay waste to the world of man. I sleep until the day of judgment, when the destruction of the apocalypse awakens me to fulfill my purpose."

_This isn't normal,_ Nue thought as she listened to Levia. _She was extremely upset, but now she's completely calm. I know damn well how much a good fight can help, but it's not this much. There isn't even a trace of her previous mood. And she was bouncing between calm and upset quick during the fight, too, wasn't she?_

"An interesting story," Byakuren said to Levia.

"But false," Levia said. "YHWH does not exist. His angels don't exist. Satan does not exist. The day of judgment will never come."

"You exist," Byakuren said. "How can you be so sure that your god does not? We do have gods here, after all. Yours could easily be among them."

"No. YHWH is not a god as they actually exist. This may be the land of magic and fantasy, but it has its own rules. A being such as YHWH simply cannot exist."

"How is it that you exist, then? Or do you know what brought you into being?"

"I am aware of my own nature," Levia said. "I am aware of much. I was asleep, but not completely unaware. I am aware of many things, including the nature of Gensokyo. And how I came to be here. Although much of the scriptures of YHWH's faithful is still thought to be true, the portion describing the end of the world is not. As one predicted date after another passed, as more and more doomsayers were proven wrong, belief in the foretold end waned. The 'Book of Revelations' is now thought of as not literal prophecy, but metaphorical prophecy. The events simply represent what's going to happen, and aren't actually the events that will occur.

"As I became considered by more and more to be nothing more than a legend, I came to exist here in Gensokyo, the home of such things. But I was asleep, asleep until the day of judgment."

"Which would never come," Nue said.

"Indeed. I should have simply slept forever."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because the end has come. Just not the right one."

"You mean the Radiance?"

"I am not familiar with what that is."

"Something that happened about five hundred years ago," Byakuren said. "It seems to be why Gensokyo is in its current state. But if the Radiance was the reason for your awakening, why didn't it awaken you when it happened?"

"Because it wasn't enough. Death, despair, panic, desperation, everything that comes from the end is necessary to trigger my awakening, and your 'Radiance' did not produce enough to wake me. Not at first. But it has been responsible for much more in the time since, and because this is from the same cause, it added to what was already there. It built up over time, until it reached a point sufficient to wake me."

"I see."

"It should not have happened," Levia said. "The end is not supposed to be drawn out like this, a world dying slowly but surely."

"We all wish it hadn't happened," Byakuren said. "None of us wanted it."

"You don't understand. There has been no judgment, no taking of the righteous from the world. I am to lay waste to the wicked ones left behind, but there was no leaving behind. The world should be breaking, coming undone as it is used as a battlefield in the battle between Satan and YHWH. I am an agent of that destruction. But this… it's all wrong. I have awakened in the midst of the wrong end, and because of this, my purpose is lost. This is not my world to ravage, but what am I, if not a destroyer? It's what I am, what I exist to do."

"Then find a new purpose," Byakuren said. "Give your life a meaning all its owaaaaah!"

Byakuren grabbed her arm as Nue ran to her. "Byakuren, are you okay? What is it?"

"Pain," Byakuren said. "Just pain."

"Not just pain," Levia said. "Something within you caused you pain. I could feel it as it did so. You have been tainted."

"The Black Scrawl," Nue said. "Damn it. The pain's starting."

"Far later than it should have," Byakuren said. "At this rate, assuming it can claim me, it will still be a few years from now."

"It won't take you," Nue said. "I won't let it."

"You may not be able to stop it."

"I'm going to," Nue said. "I even have a lead right now, remember?"

"A possible lead. We still don't know all of what it says."

"Then we should get back to Miko and see if she's had any luck."

Byakuren took a step forward. "Yes, let's." She paused. "It seems the pain has faded for now." She turned to Levia. "Levia, what will you do?"

"I don't know," Levia said. "You told me to find some new purpose, but how do I do that? And what will it be?"

"Only you can answer that," Byakuren said. "You'll know it when you find it."

"So I must find it on my own? With no idea where to begin?"

"I never said that."

"Just invite her along, already," Nue said. She turned to Levia. "She's going to ask if you want to come with us. She's big on the whole 'helping people' thing. And no, she won't expect anything in return."

"I do not know what I want," Levia said, "but for the moment, I have nowhere else to go. I shall accept your offer for the time being something is approaching."

"What are you talking about?" Nue asked.

"Exactly what I said. Something is coming."

"I don't sense anything. 'Ren, your sense is better than mine. Anything?"

"I don't sense any- never mind. Yes, I can sense it now. I don't think it's heading for us, or for Seafront, but its course will bring it closer to here."

"It is one of power," Levia said. "Great power. And in addition, I sense the touch of the divine."

Levia began walking off. "Hey," Nue said, "where are you going?"

"It calls to me."

"We should investigate," Byakuren said. "Can you sense it yet?"

"Yeah," Nue said, "I can. But are you okay?"

"I am. You know as well as I do that the pain will at first come only in bursts. It has passed for now. And we need to go. I recognize this… unique presence. I do not know why she is here, but… I feel we need to find out. Levia, we're coming with you."

"Very well," Levia said. She took to the air, the other two right behind her.

* * *

><p>Mokou caught up to her where the woods gave way to the ocean. "Utsuho!"<p>

The hell raven halted her flight, turning to face the immortal. "Mokou." She aimed the Third Leg at Mokou. "Give me one good reason not to incinerate you."

"Go ahead, if you think it'll help," Mokou said. "It's not like it matters. I'm immortal."

"Yes. As is Kaguya. Which is why we locked her away. But she escaped yesterday, and you were seen helping her. Why?"

"Does it matter? Face it, Utsuho; you've lost it. I don't think you're in a frame of mind to even care at all."

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"Utsuho, you know what I want."

"You want me to let Kaguya get away with what she did."

"Kaguya's been trapped in a star for the past five hundred years. What we did to her was far worse than what she did to us."

"You think five hundred years is enough to make up for what she did?"

"Five hundred years within a star? Absolutely."

"How can you say that? She killed Satori!"

"And long ago, she was responsible for my father's death, as well. That does not give us the right to subject her to eternal torture."

"Like you can talk! You've been after her for far longer than five hundred years!"

"And my pursuit of her never passed beyond killing. I've killed her countless times, but I've never subjected her to unending torture. And you'll also note that I only attacked her, not her family or Eirin or anyone she cares about. But you do want to do that."

"It's what she did!"

"And you would kill innocent bystanders because of this? She's the one who acted. Leave anyone else alone."

"She didn't!"

"Are you her, or are you you?"

"Unyu?"

"If you do what she did," Mokou said, "you'll be just as bad as her."

"Stop telling me I shouldn't get revenge! You wanted revenge, too!"

"Yes. For my father's death. But did I touch her father? Did the thought even cross my mind? No. The only one who should pay for a wrong is the one who committed it."

"She was suffering! Until YOU let her out!"

"She's paid enough." _More than enough._

"No she hasn't! Satori doesn't get to come back! Why should she?"

"Because we did worse that she did. I've killed her countless times, but that's it. That's where I drew the line. But with you, I crossed it, and because I did, we've done the greater wrong."

"Just shut up!" Utsuho fired a beam, which Mokou dodged. "I'm not stopping! Or are you going to try and stop me?"

_I don't want to, but it's the only choice you've left._ Mokou drew her sword.

* * *

><p>By the time Kaguya caught up, the battle was underway, and Mokou was losing. Badly. At the moment, she was missing an arm, and Utsuho had her by the neck, her control rod pointed at Mokou's head. And then Mokou didn't have a head, and Utsuho let her body fall to the ground.<p>

Mokou would recover, of course, but Kaguya knew it would take a few minutes. _My turn, then._

Kaguya moved in quickly, drawing her sword and striking. Utsuho noticed her approach just in time, raising the Third Leg in defense. But Kaguya was able to divert her strike somewhat, catching Utsuho on her arm, just below the control rod.

"You," Utsuho said. "Good. I can put you back where you belong."

"Not happening," Kaguya said.

"Oh? Are you going to fight me, too? That won't work. You should've just gone into hiding. You can't win against me."

"Mokou told me what you're trying to do," Kaguya said. "I can't allow that."

"You deserve it. After what you did, you deserve it!"

Kaguya decided not to mention the fact that killing Satori had been completely accidental. "You have every right to hate me, but you will leave my family and my people out of it."

"Or what? Are you going to stop me?"

Kaguya pulled her sword free, delivering a kick to Utsuho's face as she put some distance between the two of them. "I am."

"And you actually think you can?"

"Let us see if your confidence is warrented. These Impossible Requests that have defeated so many in the past, how many can you fulfill? Fire Rat's Robe!"

Spellcards were rarely used outside of danmaku battles; danmaku patterns were much harder to form on command, so in such battles, the spellcard's lack of flexibility was more than made up for by providing quick access to complex patterns. Such patterns were fairly easy to form outside of danmaku, however, so spellcards were unnecessary. As were complex patterns; danmaku tended to be slower, and thus complexity was needed to overwhelm opponents. Non-danmaku combat wasn't like that, but many spellcard patterns could be easily adapted to be effective in non-danmaku battle. Calling out attack names wasn't truly necessary, but many did so anyways.

Flaming shots fired towards Utsuho in a three-dimensional spread. In addition, lasers were being fired at Utsuho's current position. The danmaku version required quick reflexes to avoid taking hits; the non-danmaku version was almost impossible to escape from unscathed. The spread shots were, however, fairly weak, and although there were a lot of them, even the number of hits Utsuho took did next to nothing. The lasers were stronger, but avoiding them was easy when ignoring the spread shots.

Utsuho formed nuclear energy into a boomerang and threw it at Kaguya. The moon princess maintained her own attack while dodging to the side, then shot up, anticipating and avoiding its return flight. But Utsuho wasn't done. She formed nuclear energy into a giant blade around the Third Leg and charged. "High-Tension Blade!"

Kaguya cut her own attack and dropped down underneath Utsuho. "You're a strong one. Buddha's Stone Bowl!"

Multiple familiars spread out around Utsuho's position. Many fired beams, restricting her movement, while others fired ordinary shots. Utsuho ignored the shots and took aim at Kaguya. "My turn. Giga Flare!"

The beam Utsuho fired put even the famed Master Spark to shame. Kaguya moved quickly and managed to receive only a glancing blow, but with a move like that, even a glancing blow was a powerful hit. And Utsuho didn't let Kaguya recover. Spreading her arms, she enveloped herself in nuclear energy. "Yatagarasu Dive!"

She dove, striking the dazed Kaguya head-on and sending her flying into the ground, dead. Then Mokou slammed into Utsuho from behind, sending her into the ground. Utsuho pushed of the ground, spun around, and fired one of her 'stars'.

Unlike the nuclear furnace Kaguya was in, Utsuho's battle moves didn't actually involve fire, not even nuclear flames. It was all nuclear energy (although radioactivity was also absent) and no fire, and as a result, Mokou's charms were not affected, nor did they activate-such charms ignored and were ignored by anything but what they were meant for. So they did not burn up when Mokou dove into the star. She passed through it quickly, throwing blades of flame at Utsuho as she emerged.

Utsuho met Mokou's charge head-on. As the two were about to collide, she dashed to the side, leaving spheres on nuclear energy in her wake. Mokou took hits as she spun around, attacking with her sword. Utsuho deflected the strike with her Third Leg, then fired from it a sphere of energy. Mokou dashed backwards to avoid it, but it burst into multiple spheres, some of which did connect. Then Utsuho grabbed her and drove her into the ground.

Kaguya ran in from the side, her sword sheathed. Utsuho made to grab her, but she ducked to the side and struck. Utsuho struck back, but it soon became apparent that Kaguya was quite skilled in the martial arts. So Utsuho hit her with a star at point-blank range. As Mokou had done, Kaguya simply dashed through it, quickly resuming her attack. As before, she was out-performing Utsuho, but she became momentarily distracted when she noticed that Utsuho was glowing, and that was all the hell raven needed. She slammed Kaguya down next to the recovering Mokou and held them both in place, her glow intensifying.

When Mokou regained consciousness, she knew immediately what was happening. "Oh, shit."

"Abyss Nova!"

* * *

><p>They arrived in time to witness the battle's final stages. "That's the hell raven," Nue said.<p>

Byakuren nodded. "Utsuho Reiuji."

"You know her," Levia said.

"We have met a few times, but it would be more accurate to say that I know _of_ her."

"Tell me."

"She's a hell raven, a resident of the underground, location of the former Hell of Blazing Fires. As part of a plan to gather faith, the sky god Kanako infused her with the corpse of the Yatagarasu, giving her the dead sun god's power. Without the limitation of faith, as she is not a god herself. Kanako hoped to gain faith by useing Utsuho as a source of 'electricity', something used in the outside world."

"I am aware of what that is."

"I see. Well, Kanako hoped that providing it to Gensokyo would earn her faith. As it turns out, though, only the kappa were really all that interested. Perhaps they would have eventually progressed to a state that would draw interest from others, if not for the Radiance."

"She bears the stench of hatred," Levia said. "Of anger. Of... jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Nue said. "What the hell's she jealous of?"

"It would be unlike her to be jealous," Byakuren said.

"All I am sure of is that she is," Levia said. "I notice that there are two people fighting her."

"Yes," Byakuren said. "Another oddity, as one of them is Fujiwara no Mokou, with whom she has been in a relationship. The other I do not recognize."

Nue looked more carefully. "Wait, that's Kaguya!"

"Kaguya? The lunar princess?"

"Yeah. You never got a chance to meet her, did you?"

"Not before the residents of Eientei vanished during the Radiance. She and Mokou had a rivalry, correct?"

Nue nodded. "A major one. They kill each other all the time, or at least they did before Kaguya disappeared with everyone else from Eientei."

"It looks like they're both fighting Utsuho."

"Yeah. I'd expect Mokou and Utsuho to be the team, not Mokou and Kaguya."

"The one of flame bears the stench of hatred," Levia said, "but it is fading. Other scents are present, but confused. She is questioning herself, her path in life. The one of the night carries the scent of regret. But also... you are sure that their relationship is hostile?"

"It sure used to be," Nue said. "Why? Wait, you don't think Utsuho's jealous of-"

"It is a possibility. She is not fully rational, however, so her current beliefs may not entirely reflect reality. She wants to-"

Levia cut herself off when the blast happened. It was localized, centered around Utsuho, and when it ended, she was the only one left standing. "Looks like the fight's done," Nue said.

Levia stepped forward. "She bears the stench of the wicked."

"What do you mean?" Byakuren asked.

Nue, on the other hand, had it figured out. "'Destroyer of the wicked'," she said. "You're going to fight her."

"Dark desires have taken her. She is among the wicked." Levia took to the air.

"Wait!" Byakuren called out, but it was too late. "Great. Nue, come on. We have to go after her."

"No way," Nue said. "I'm not getting between those two."

"You would rather let them fight?"

"I know you can't be killed from that kind of thing, but for me, it'd be asking for death. And I'm pretty sure we're not stopping this anyways."

Byakuren paused for a moment. "Probably true." She sighed. "Very well. Better we remain able to calm whoever wins."

"Yeah," Nue said. "While we're keeping an eye on the fight, let's go find Kaguya and Mokou. See if we can find out what's going on with Utsuho. And with the two of them."

"Yes."

* * *

><p>Utsuho was about to take to the air when Levia landed. "Who are you?"<p>

"Fallen one," Levia said, "your time has come."

"'Fallen'? What do you mean by that?"

"You have given in to impulses of hatred and destruction."

"Unyu?"

"You are consumed with the desire for revenge."

"Oh. Why didn't you just say that? Of course I want revenge. Kaguya killed Satori."

"You are the only one here with malicious intent. I know not the circumstances surrounding this event, but I do know that neither of your opponents are killers."

"Kaguya is. A lot of people died because of her, not just Satori. Mokou's father was one of them, too."

"This 'Kaguya' is not a killer. I know not what she once was, but if she was a killer, that is behind her. Perhaps this is from where I smell the scent of regret. What she used to be is in the past."

"What, so I should just forgive her?"

"I did not say that. Whether or not you forgive her is up to you, and matters little. But the right of judgment belongs to none but God."

"Oh. That's okay, then. I ate a god, so that's not a problem."

Levia was silent for a moment. "...I suppose I should try to stop referring to one who does not exist."

"Huh? I exist!"

"You are not the one to whom I am referring."

"Oh." She paused. "You talk strange."

Levia facepalmed, then shook her head. "Right. Let us get back on topic. Your desire for vengeance consumes you."

"Of course. Kaguya killed someone important to me, so I'm going to kill people important to her. Isn't that normal?"

"...No."

"Oh." Her tone turned serious. "Are you going to try to stop me?"

"Your dark desires have consumed you. You have fallen into wickedness. And I exist to destroy the wicked." She brandished her whip. "Your time is at an end! The destroyer, Levia, has come for you!"

* * *

><p>Byakuren helped Mokou into a sitting position. "Are you all right?"<p>

"Kind of a dumb question to ask an immortal. You're... Byakuren, I think. And... Nue, right? What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," Nue said. "Short version: we found someone near Seafront and followed her here. After you and Kaguya lost to Ustuho, she decided that she was going to confront Utsuho."

Mokou sighed. "As if this wasn't already complicated enough."

"What's going on here, anyways? I thought you and Utsuho were, um, friendly with each other. And Kaguya hasn't been seen since the Radiance."

Kaguya sat up. "I was underground. Utsuho stuck me inside a small sun and locked the door."

Byakuren immediately ran over to her. "What? Why did she do that?"

"Kaguya killed Satori," Mokou said. "Accidentally, of course; I'm the one she was really after."

"I'm not sure what actually happened," Kaguya said. "Satori confronted me, and immediately knew my intent, so she opposed me. We were going to have a danmaku battle, but then... I don't really know what it was. We were about to start, things became strange, and then my sword was in her chest."

"Utsuho was devastated," Mokou said. "Devastated, and even more pissed off than I was when my father died. And I wasn't exactly pleased, either."

"They took me down hard."

"We did. But Utsuho wasn't okay with simply adding her own vendetta beside mine. So she made use of the 'containment room', a large room in the mansion that was converted after Utsuho's episode upon gaining her powers, intended as a place to contain her if she lost control again. The chamber is completely isolated and contained, both physically and magically. Nothing that happens in there can affect anything outside it. So Utsuho filled it with a miniature sun, and we... kind of... threw Kaguya in."

"_Utsuho_ threw me in," Kaguya said. "All you did was watch."

Byakuren was silent, clearly having difficulty keeping her emotions under control. Nue, however, spoke up. "Back up a bit, Kaguya. You say you don't know what happened when you..."

"When I killed Satori. That's right. Mokou told me that something called the Radiance happened on the day I attacked. You're wondering if it might be involved, aren't you?" Nue nodded. "Well, it's possible, I suppose. It might help if I knew more about the Radiance, but Mokou doesn't seem to know very much."

"Nobody does," Nue said. "All we do know is that it's caused a _lot_ of problems."

Byakuren spoke. "What of the others from Eientei?"

"We just came from there," Kaguya said. "I saw a bizarre creature enter the hall it came out of without turning around, ran into a wall that didn't exist, got spun around in a straight line, walked through myself, and generally encountered a lot of strangeness, but I didn't see any sign of Eirin or any of the other residents."

"I see."

Nue cuhckled. "'Ren, you're about to burst. Go... somewhere; I'll talk to these two."

"Yes, that may be wise. I'll keep watch on the battle." She walked off.

"Byakuren's pretty good at keeping her emotions under control," Nue said, "but I think she was about to reach her limit. That whole 'kept Kaguya in a sun for five hundred years' thing kind of, well..."

"Understandable," Mokou said. "You don't seem that upset by it, though."

"Well, I've been responsible for more than a little trouble myself over the years. Never stuck with one person for quite that long, though. I preferred to move from person to person." Her tone was one of regret. "Of course, once you've truly broken someone's spirit, there's little more you can do to them."

"You two seemed to be getting along just fine, though."

"Well, I've changed. Been a long time since I actually terrorized anyone, although I'd never deny that I do still have something of a mischevious side. I still have my fun; it's just not actually harmful to people now. I've come to realize that the things I did beck then were wrong." She paused. "Man, even after so long, it still feels cheesey as hell to say that."

"But it's true," Kaguya said.

Nue nodded. "It is. But let's get back on topic. Byakuren walked away because she probably wouldn't be able to stay calm if she didn't. I can stay calm, however, and as I happen to know what she'd say, I will say it for her."

"Yeah?" Mokou said. "And what's that?"

"First: Mokou, did you participate in the actual physical action for throwing Kaguya into the star."

"No."

"Was it your idea?"

"...No, but..."

"Utsuho asked you about it?"

"She... she said she was going to do it. I just stood there and nodded. I..."

"But it wasn't your idea, and you didn't perform any of the actions."

"I can see where you're going with this," Mokou said, "and you're wrong. Yes, Utsuho's also responsible for it, but don't you dare try to tell me I'm not."

"Of course you are," Nue said. "You could have stopped her, but you didn't. But do not equate what you did with what she did. You comitted a wrong; Utsuho comitted a far greater wrong."

"And that's what Byakuren would say?"

"If she was calm and in control, yes. Especially since you quite clearly regret what you did. Oh, and are you the one who released Kaguya?"

"She is," Kaguya said.

"Now, call me crazy, but that makes me think you realize that what you did was wrong."

"Of course I do," Mokou said, "but it took five hundred years for me to realize that! Are you saying it's okay to be that oblivious for that long to suffering you caused?"

"It took me far longer," Nue said. "And I ruined far more lives than you. And hell, for all you know, Kaguya was actually better off than had she stayed at Eientei."

Mokou laughed. "Like hell."

"You're probably right, but given that the fate of Eientei's residents is completely unknown, can you say with complete certainty that Kaguya's was worse?"

"Well... no, not _complete_ certainty. But I'm pretty damn sure it was."

"Probably true. I was merely pointing out a possibility. But what I'm really trying to say is, well... you know what,I'll just say it in Byakuren's words. She said this to me once, and I think it applies just as much to you. Cheesey as hell, though."

"Just say it."

"Very well. What she said is: 'It's not who you were that's truly important; it's who you are. It's not what you did that truly matters, but what you do now. Never forget the things you did, but do not let them define you. Learn from your past mistakes, but do not let them bind you. You cannot change who you were then, or what you did; there's no way to alter what has already happened. Change can begin only at the present. Do not let the past bind you; do what you now choose to do. Be who you now wish to be.'"

"You're right," Kaguya said. "That was cheesey. She does have a point, though, Mokou."

Mokou laughed. "Yeah? So, what, I'm just supposed to say 'oh, okay, I'm a changed person', and it's all okay? 'Cause that's bullshit."

"Of course it is," Nue said. "Change does not come easily. You have to want it, and you have to work for it. And I think you're probably going through that process already. But no, that will not make everything fine. What you've done will stay with you. Just don't attach yourself to it. As Byakuren said, 'Change yourself not out of regret for the past, for if you do, it will continue to bind you. It will stay with you no matter what you do, but do not let it decide you actions. Do not be controlled by it. Change not because of what you did; change because you desire it.' Also, we should dodge."

Nue pulled the immortal pair back just in time, as Levia slammed Utsuho into the ground right where they'd been.

* * *

><p>Levia leapt away, narrowly avoiding a blast from Utsuho as the hell raven shot into the air, energy gathering around the control rod. As Utsuho launched the sun, Levia encased herself in a dense sphere of water and plunged straight into it.<p>

The sun stopped moving. Utsuho tilted her head in confusion. "Unyu? Why would she do that?" Then she felt something interfering with it, destabilizing it. Something from within. "Hey! That's not fair!"

Utsuho dove into the sun.

* * *

><p>For a moment, nothing happened. But as Byakuren watched, the miniature sun started to... <em>steam?<em> Then it started... _it's as though it's... unstable? No. In conflict? What is going on in there? Now it looks distorted, definitely unstable. Is Levia actually trying to overpower it?_

It soon became clear that yes, she was. The sun blew apart, a spectacle of fire and water, and the two combatants fell to the ground, landing clumsily. Byakuren raced over to Levia, and was soon joined by Nue.

"She is... formidable," the exhausted Levia said. "Had she not been... worn from battle already, she... would have bested me."

"You were worn, too," Byakuren said.

"I know my own power. Hers is greater. At full strength, she... would have bested me... regardless of my own state. I doubt... her power can be matched."

"She's been beated before," Nue said.

"By means other than raw power, I would think."

"True," Byakuren said. "Two people opposed her, both were much more skilled than her, and they both had outside help, too."

"Tales of the 'Red-White' and 'Black-White' can wait," Nue said. "We still have Utsuho to-" Utsuho shot into the air and flew away, "-deal with. Byakuren, should we follow her?"

Mokou came up beside them, Kaguya behind her. "The main route underground is in exactly that direction. She's going back down. Probably to recover." She turned to Levia. "How the hell did you pull that off?"

"She was weakened from battle," Levia said. "Had she not been, she would have bested me."

"Still, you matched your power against hers and fought her to a draw. That's impressive."

"I do not know who you are," Kaguya said, "but thank you for your assistance."

Mokou spun to face her. "Shut it. That was my fight. She didn't know that, no, but you sure as hell did. Stay out of it next time."

"Your relationship is not my business," Kaguya said, "but she intends harms towards my people. It's my fight, too."

Byakuren, her immediate feelings at the reveal of Mokou and Utsuho's actions having calmed to a controlable level, stepped towards them. "I would like to speak to both of you regarding this situation, but... well, we are all worn and tired. There is a town called Seafront nearby; I suggest we head there for now. We can speak once we have all recovered."

"I do not object," Levia said.

"Yeah," Mokou said, "I could use a rest."

The others agreed as well, and the group of five set off towards Seafront.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that chapter took a while. Mainly because I'm not that good with fight scenes, which this chapter has a lot of.<strong>

**Anyways, I've got a few things to say about this chapter, and yes, most of them involve Levia, my first Touhou OC to actually have a significant role (the few OCs in Orphan having been minor characters). First, yes, I did indeed take her from the concept of the biblical beast, although I went with the pop-culture sea serpent version of the creature. I realize my interpretation is nowhere close to being biblically accurate, but she's not supposed to be (besides, it's not like mythological inaccuracy in uncommon in Touhou). I had the idea for her character, and found that I really liked the concept of someone for whom the the world had undergone the wrong apocalypse. So she's in the story. Although her conversation with Utsuho turned out... differently than intended. Levia's not one to show feelings such as exasperation, but Utsuho's... Utsuho-ness got even her to facepalm.**

**Oh, yeah, other stuff happened in the chapter, too. We found out a lot more about what happened with Mokou, Utsuho, and Kaguya, for one. There was a sneak peak at Eientei, too; yes, it will indeed be visited again. Oh, and Miko made an appearance. I've seen a lot of portrayals of the Myouren crew and Miko's people as hostile towards each other, but I've never agreed with that depiction. I don't see Byakuren being hostile towards anyone for differing beliefs, and I never got the impression that Miko had anything against Buddhism. Yes, she secretly studied the ways of Taoism, but I really don't see that making her and Byakuren enemies. So I don't have them as enemies.**

**Also, if anyone can identify the song the rabbit creature was singing at the start of the chapter, they get a prize.**

**And, of course, reviews are strongly encouraged.**


	4. Chapter 4: What Should Not Be

**Chapter 4  
><strong>_What Should Not Be_

They were about halfway back to Seafront when Levia came to a stop and landed. Nue did the same, with the others quickly following suit. "What is it?" Nue asked.

"Something is near," Levia said. "Something… wrong. How did they get so close without me sensing them?"

"Shades, I would assume," Byakuren said. "If so, I'm surprised you can sense them at all. Nobody else can."

"They… these… what is…"

"Levia?"

"They cry out in twisted agony. For everything, for nothing, for things that are and things that aren't."

"I see them," Nue said, pointing. "Looks like a small group."

"Twisted thoughts, twisted lives. Thought without mind, thought without thought. Form without form. Mind without mind. Physical and mental in a state of absent presence. The mindless mind. Within, without. Mind with no mind, sense with no sense, form with no form, thought with no thought. Everything that is not. Nothing that is."

"I think their presence is bothering her," Kaguya noted.

"No shit," Mokou said. "Let's take them out before she gets any-"

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Levia charged forward, directly into the group of Shades. She tackled one, picked it up, and slammed it into the ground. She grabbed one, flew into the air, and drove it into the ground. Another swung at her with its weapon, but she ducked under its blade, punched it a few times, then tore its head off. She threw one to the ground, then wrapped her whip around another and slammed it down on the first one over and over. Then she grabbed the last one and thrust her hand into its middle. A few seconds later, it exploded in a burst of water.

"-or that," Mokou said. "That works too."

* * *

><p>The group made it to Seafront with no further incident, and Miko was there to greet them. "Well, well, well. There seem to be a few more of you."<p>

"Yes," Byakuren said. "It was… eventful." She turned to face the others. "For those of you who haven't met her, allow me to introduce Toyosatomimi no Miko. Miko, this is Kaguya Houraisan and Fujiwara no Mokou."

"Nice to meet you, Mokou. Kaguya, I believe we have met, although it was a long time ago."

"Yes," Kaguya said. "I remember that. Wasn't long after you awoke. I remembered hearing about you in the outside world, and got curious as to what you were really like."

"Indeed. And who is this?"

"My name," Levia said, "is Levia."

"She's the one you told us about," Nue said.

"She seems to be an… unusual individual," Miko said.

"That's for sure."

"Miko," Byakuren said, "all of us were recently involved in battle, and I'm afraid we are all worn. Could you accommodate us?"

"Certainly. Nue, you know where to go. You take everyone there, and if anyone asks, tell them I okayed it. Futo's probably done with the tablet, too."

"I think I remember her," Kaguya said. "Isn't she the one who talks funny?"

Miko chuckled. "She used to. She's modernized her speech. Anyways, Byakuren, could you stay here for a minute? I'd like to speak to you alone."

"You intend to talk about me," Levia said. "You may speak freely, Miko. It does not bother me."

Miko was caught off-guard for a second, but quickly regained her composure. "Be that as it may, I'd rather speak with her alone."

"Very well. Nue, you are the one who knows where we are going. Please lead us there."

* * *

><p>"Levia seems… unusually perceptive," Miko said once she and Byakuren were alone.<p>

Byakuren nodded. "Nue and I had a similar impression."

"What's her story?"

"It is unusual," Byakuren said. "She claims to have been born from the mythology of an outside world religion centered around a figure named 'Jesus Christ'."

"Yes," Miko said, "I remember that religion. 'Christianity', they called it. It was centered in a land called Rome, if I remember correctly. I recall hearing about it from foreign visitors, although it never really came to Japan, at least not during my time. I don't really know all that much of it."

"Well, Levia says her origin is in Christianity's myth of the end. According to her, the righteous are taken by 'Yahweh', and those who remain must suffer through the world's end. She says that her role was that of a destroyer, released during the end to lay waste."

"Should I assume people no longer believe that this will happen?"

Byakuren nodded. "She said that as more and more predicted dates for the end came and went, more and more people stopped believing in that particular myth. The religion itself remains, but Levia was relegated to the realm of legend."

"So she ended up in Gensokyo."

"Not quite. The way she says it, she never existed in the outside world at all. She says the entire religion is based on false beliefs. She did not exist before she was in Gensokyo, and as she tells it, she knew all of this. She also says that no matter what people in the outside world believe, Yahweh will not come into existence here, because even in Gensokyo, the existence of such a being simply cannot happen. Which, of course, means there's no possibility of the 'day of judgment' occurring. Since the end for which she was to awaken would, then, never come, she expected to sleep eternally."

"But she's awake now."

"She is, and this seems to be because of the Radiance. She says that even the death and destruction of the initial event could not have awoken her, but it's been responsible for a lot since then, and she says that because it's from the same cause, it added to the strength of that call until it did wake her."

"Does she…"

"No," Byakuren said. "She knows this is not a world in the state she exists to end. When we found her, she was… confused. She said that the righteous should be gone from the world, but that this wasn't the case. She lashed out at us in confusion."

"Is that why she attacked people seemingly at random?"

"Not all of it, I think. Some of those she attacked were probably ones that, at least to her, qualify as 'wicked'."

"How could she identify them as such so quickly? When I sent Seiga to talk to her, she was attacked on sight. Actually, she seemed to know that it was her I wanted to talk to you about. Do you think that might stem from the same ability?"

"Yes, that is likely. She demonstrated such capability multiple times. She seems to have some level of empathic ability."

"Something similar to my own ability, you think?"

"Not quite," Byakuren said. "You can sense people's desires. I haven't seen enough of Levia's ability to be certain, but it seems to be more about general emotions. Anger and jealousy were both mentioned. She seems to have a tendency to speak of them as though they were scents."

"She did seem to have some ability to sense desires, since she knew it was her I wanted to talk to you about."

"True. The fact is that I know very little about her abilities. Given time, I should be able to form a more accurate assessment of them."

"True enough. I take it your intent is to keep her with you, then?"

"She has no direction to her life, no purpose. She is lost. I offered to help her find her way, and she accepted."

"That's a yes, then."

"It is." Byakuren paused for a moment. "Miko, I seek a greater understanding of her. What can you tell me of her desires?"

"She wants a return to the world she expected," Miko said, "so that she may fulfill her original purpose."

"Not surprising, although I think she realizes that this is not really a possibility."

"You're right, I think, as she also wants to find some meaning in her existence, a new purpose. And…"

"What is it?"

"She has a desire to eliminate… something."

"That would fit with the role of destroyer."

"No," Miko said, "that's not it. This is much more… focused. It's something specific that she desires to eliminate, to wipe out, to completely eradicate. It is an incredibly strong desire, strong enough that it's obscuring what she wants to eliminate."

"I know what she wants to eliminate," Byakuren said, realizing what Miko was talking about. "And she is not the only one who wishes those creatures destroyed."

That was enough for Miko to figure it out. "Shades."

Byakuren nodded. "We ran into some on our way back, a small group. Levia reacted… strongly. She said… things. It was hard to understand, and seemed a little like she was simply rambling, but I can't shake the feeling that it was more than that. I think it was her empathic abilities. She sensed… something, and… well, after her apparent rambling, she screamed, charged them, and tore them apart."

"Obviously, then, it was something she didn't like."

"More than that, it looked like. Any other desires?"

"Only basic things. Sustenance and the like. Speaking of which, you could probably use some yourself. Shall we join the others?"

"Yes," Byakuren said, "let's."

* * *

><p>Mokou and Kaguya were silent as they followed behind Nue. Which didn't bother Nue; Levia was the one she wanted to talk to, anyways. "Levia."<p>

"Yes?"

"What happened back there? You know, with the Shades?"

"I suppose that was maybe a bit… surprising," Levia said. "I did not expect it, either."

"Something about them set you off. Any idea what?"

"I'm not really sure. It was something I sensed, I know that much."

_Yes, she did demonstrate empathic capabilities._ "What, though?"

"I am not sure. Something about them is just… wrong. They shouldn't exist, I know that much. They are aberrations, things that should not be."

"They're unusual, that's for sure. But… well, let's be open here. You clearly have some form of empathic ability."

"That is correct," Levia said. "And yes, it's what I sensed through that ability that… disturbed me. I do not think that I can describe it, however. Not to one without a similar sense, and maybe not even then. I'm not quite sure what it was myself."

"Whatever it was, you didn't seem to like it."

"They are aberrations, creatures that should not exist. They… ordinarily, I can tell what things do and do not have minds, but with the Shades, I cannot. There aren't ordinary minds, aren't emotions, but neither is there the absence of those things. There's something in there, but as to what it is, I cannot say. I have felt nothing like it. All I know is that it's wrong. Everything about them is wrong. They are a non-existence that must be ended."

Kaguya finally spoke. "Maybe you should talk about something else. I think this topic is upsetting Levia."

"I am in control," Levia said.

"Still," Nue said, "Kaguya may be right. I do have one more question, though: do you think you'll fly into a rage again the next time you encounter Shades?"

"Unlikely. I now know what to expect. It will not surprise me, and I should be able to retain control of myself. And any difficulties I do have next time can be corrected for so that they do not occur again."

"Works for me," Nue said.

* * *

><p>"You really found this in the mausoleum?" Futo asked.<p>

"Yes," Nue said, "and there were a lot of fairy-type Shades in the room, too. And a pair of animated statues. And there were block puzzles in other rooms."

"Someone's been in there, then, because we certainly didn't set any of that up. Or put the tablet in there."

"Could you read the tablet?"

Futo nodded. "Yes, both inscriptions. I'm kind of surprised Byakuren couldn't read the second one; the script it's written in is one that was favored by Buddhist temples. It is similar to the one my family preferred, though, enough that learning it was fairly simple."

"We know the first one already. What does the second one say?"

"The inscription reads, 'The eight pieces are held by the bodyless forms, those of the black disease.'"

There was a brief silence. "Repeat that," Nue said, and Futo did so.

"Does that mean something to you?" Kaguya asked.

"It does," Nue said. "The first inscription reads, 'The eight pieces face the shade's black mark. Seek with them the agent of change.' And the second one says 'black disease'. There's only one thing that could refer to."

"It certainly could refer to the Black Scrawl," Futo said.

"Of course it does. And it says where to look for the pieces, too."

"'Bodyless forms'?"

"There's only one thing that could mean."

"I don't agree," Futo said. "It could be referring to spirits, or souls, or-"

"No," Levia said. "Nue is right; it is referring to Shades."

"How can you be sure?"

"It couldn't mean anything else," Nue said. "The Shades and the Black Scrawl are connected. All I have to do is kill every Shade I come across until I find the ones with the remaining seven pieces."

Futo sighed. "You're grasping at straws, Nue."

"No, she is correct," Levia said. "It means Shades."

"How can you be sure?"

"Their taint is upon it. I can sense it. It is weak, but it is there."

"Are you sure? I don't sense anything odd. And what do you mean by the Shade's 'taint'?"

"She can sense them," Nue said. "Only when they're already fairly close, but still better than anyone else can do."

"Really?"

"Saw the evidence myself."

Futo looked back to Levia. "And you get that same sense from this tablet?"

"I do," Levia said. "It is faint, but it is there. The object is related in some manner to the Shades; that much is certain."

"Huh. Well, here you go, then." Futo handed the tablet to Nue.

"Thanks," Nue said. "I mean it. This is the first real lead I've had in a while."

"Seems like a long shot, though."

"I don't care. I'm following this lead."

"I thought as much. And I do most certainly hope it bears fruit; the Black Scrawl is one of many things the world could do without."

"Yeah," Nue said, "no kidding."

"On our end, I'm sure we'll be looking into whatever's going on at the mausoleum. If we find anything, I'm sure we can let you know."

"Thanks."

* * *

><p>Tenshi impaled a Shade through the chest, using it as a club against another. "Two!" She kicked one to the ground, jumped on top of it, and plunged her sword through its head. "Three!" She performed a spinning backwards leap, landing in the middle of four Shades and taking them out with a spinning slice. "Four in one!"<p>

A Shade came at her from the side. She grabbed its sword. "Yeah, no." She flipped the Shade over her and into the ground. One charged her from the front, and another from behind. Tenshi leapt to the side, grabbed their weapons, and impaled the two Shades on each other's' blades. "Well, that's not very nice. You should kiss and make up." She slammed their heads together.

Another Shade attacked. Tenshi ducked around it and grabbed it from behind. "Let's not be interrupting, now." She leapt into the air and threw it into the ground. She rose higher into the air, then came crashing down on a keystone, crushing a trio of shades. "You should really learn to look up." Three more approached, and she sent a keystone through each one's head.

Only four Shades were left, and they approached Tenshi as a group. Tenshi plunged her sword into the ground, and the ground split open beneath them. The four Shades plummeted into the crack, and were then crushed as Tenshi closed it. "Watch your step, too," she said, pulling her sword out of the ground.

Tenshi looked around, then sheathed her sword. "And that takes care of that."

Mamizou landed next to Tenshi. "Ah, you're finished."

"Yeah," Tenshi said. "How's Keine doing?"

"She and I got everyone together in the school and surrounding buildings quickly, as per the plan."

"That's good. And Yuugi?"

"I'd assume she's done by now. She only had two left when I saw her. And I probably don't have to tell you how much she was enjoying it."

"Good thing she was here. Otherwise, you'd've had to get your hands dirty."

"I don't think so," Mamizou said. "Keine would have left the humans to me and taken care of the Shades herself. I wouldn't be able to do as well against them."

"I've fought you before," Tenshi said, "remember? Don't tell me you couldn't handle Shades."

"My ability with danmaku does not mean I can do that well in a real battle, at least not against Shades. My specialty is illusions, remember? Deception, misdirection, that manner of thing. Even an army of humans or youkai I could wipe out single-handedly, and without even having to personally kill so much as a single one, but Shades, unfortunately, don't exactly seem to have minds to fool."

"True. I think you could probably take a small group of Shades, though. They're not really all that tough."

"Oh, I've fought Shades before. And you're right; I can perform decently against them. Don't know if I could've handled a group the size of the ones you and Yuugi just fought off, though. And even if I could, Keine could still do a better job of it. Especially since you started giving her lessons."

"She never did like fighting," Tenshi said. "She only did it when she truly needed to. Of course, when the Shades appeared, that need started showing up a lot more often. It's only natural she'd want to improve her own abilities to compensate, isn't it?"

"True enough."

"Yeah," Tenshi said. "Anyways, if both groups have been taken care of, let's go give everyone the all-clear."

Mamizou nodded. "After you."

* * *

><p>It was later in the afternoon when the group was ready to depart from Seafront. "Right," Nue said. "Mokou, Kaguya, where are you two going now?"<p>

"I have business to take care of," Mokou said, "and I feel certain Kaguya's going to insist on coming along."

"As I told you," Kaguya said, "it's my fight, too."

"You're going to pursue Utsuho, I take it," Byakuren said.

Mokou nodded. "Yes. Well, I don't know about actually pursuing her immediately. I don't know where she is right now; she's been sighted all over Gensokyo during the past month, so I have no idea where to find her."

"Also, we lost rather badly," Kaguya said. "We shouldn't just charge in again without a plan."

"Oh? And just what would you suggest we do, then?"

"Head for the mountain," Nue said. "Kanako's still there, and she's the one who gave Utsuho her power. She might be able to help."

"It's getting a bit late in the day, though," Mokou said. "I think I'll stay here for the night. Kaguya, you can do whatever the hell you want."

"You have the right idea," Kaguya said. "I'll be imposing on Miko for the night as well, I think."

"You could come to the human village with us," Byakuren said. "It's close enough that we'll get there by nightfall, and we could certainly accommodate the two of you for a night."

"I'll pass," Mokou said. "It's been a while since I've seen the ocean."

"Same here," Kaguya said.

"Very well," Byakuren said. "Levia, Nue, let us go."

* * *

><p>"Two groups attacking simultaneously," Keine said. "That's something new."<p>

"Hey," Yuugi said, "we beat 'em, right? The more, the better, as far as I'm concerned."

"I have to agree with Keine," Tenshi said. "Yeah, we kicked the hell out of 'em, but this attack implies a level of coordination we didn't think they were capable of. And it's also the first actual, true attack on the village in a long time. It's a change in behavior, and that's worrying. It's rarely good when the enemy acts in a new way. Tends to mean something's up."

The three of them were in the schoolhouse. The attack was over, and the people had returned to their everyday business. But the attack had indeed been unusual, so they were discussing it.

"I'm not sure we can call them 'enemies'," Keine said. "I don't think the term really applies to beings that don't think."

Tenshi sighed. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know, Keine. Can we leave the issue of semantics aside, please?"

"Sorry." She looked over to Yuugi. "Correcting people is something of a habit for me. It comes with being a teacher."

"Whatever," Yuugi said. "I don't care 'bout that stuff, anyways."

"Continuing," Tenshi said, "I'm not sure we can say that Shades don't think, not after they displayed even basic strategy."

"Could just be a coincidence," Yuugi said.

"Possible," Tenshi said. "I doubt it, though."

"Yeah, gotta agree with you there."

"What I want to know," Keine said, "is why we're seeing this sudden change. If they could think all this time, why are we only seeing it now? And if they couldn't, why can they do so now?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but this is important."

All three of them turned to face the newcomer. "Mira," Keine said. "I didn't realize you were here."

Mira Hakurei took a seat. "I didn't know I'd be coming, but like I said, this is important."

"Let me guess," Tenshi said. "Shades attacked the shrine, too."

"No," Mira said. "This is about the border."

The room was silent. Eventually, Keine spoke. "What is it, Mira?"

"Something's happening to the border," the Hakurei maiden explained. "At first, it was so minor that I thought I was imagining it, but I no longer doubt that the change is actually happening. I'm not completely sure what the nature of the change is, but what I think is that the border is weakening."

Another silence, once again broken by Keine. "Is it in danger of collapse?"

"No," Mira said. "The change is happening very slowly, which is part of the reason it took me so long to confirm that it's happening. And even if it was going faster, I don't think the border's weakening to the point of collapse. It would help if I knew how the border had felt before, but I think it's beginning to revert to its state before the Shades appeared."

"Are you sure?"

"No. As I said, I don't know how it felt back then. Kind of before my time. That's just my guess."

"Ran Yakumo would probably know."

"Yeah," Tenshi said. "Too bad nobody's seen her since shortly after Yukari's death. Stuck around long enough to explain what'd happened, but then she-and her shikigami-vanished. Nobody has any idea where the two of them went off to."

"It has to be somewhere in Gensokyo," Keine said. "They vanished after the border was strengthened and Gensokyo was isolated."

"Still a big area to search," Mira said, "and I can't leave the shrine for that long."

"Let's put Nazrin on it," Tenshi said. "I don't know if her ability works on people, but she's good at finding stuff even without it, isn't she?"

"That works. Where is she?"

"No clue."

"Byakuren should know," Keine said. "We can ask her when she returns."

"And when's that?" Mira asked.

"To be honest, I'm surprised she's not back yet. She and Nue must have gotten mixed up in something."

"So no clue, then. Great." Mira stood, walking over to the door. "I'll be in the market. Might as well get my shopping done while I'm here. If she gets back, let me know." She opened the door and walked straight into Byakuren. "Gah!"

"Mira," Byakuren said. "I didn't realize you'd be here. And the reverse is also true, apparently."

Mira ignored the collision completely. "Byakuren, excellent timing. I need to find Ran Yakumo. Keine recommended having Nazrin search, but none of them know where she is."

Nue stepped up beside Byakuren. "We ran into her on our way in," she said. "We asked her to set up accommodations for a guest while we came here, so she should be at our place. Give us a minute, and we'll take you-"

Mira brushed past the two of them. "Not waiting. I know where you live; I can get there on my own." And with that, she headed off through the village, not even sparing a glance for the woman standing next to them.

* * *

><p><em>Mira Hakurei is an… interesting individual.<em>

_The current Hakurei maiden, Mira is actually not the first of her line to have that name. The first Mira had the role of Hakurei maiden fifteen hundred years ago; in fact, it was her who sealed Byakuren in Makai._

_I only met the first Mira once, when she performed the sealing. And even though she never spoke to me, I remember her just as clearly as I remember the rest of that particular event._

_Shou was not present that day-something she never forgave herself for-and Kyouko joined the temple after Byakuren's unsealing, so it was just Byakuren, Ichirin, Nazrin, and Murasa who were there when the humans came. And myself, of course, but that was merely bad timing on my part. The others were ready to fight, as was I (but just for my own protection, whereas the others would have been fighting for Byakuren), but Byakuren ordered her followers to stand down. They did so, and I followed suit, still ready to fight but willing to wait and see what Byakuren was doing._

_Two of the humans stepped forward from the mob. The man was just another villager-the mob's leader, I assumed-but the other was a woman who, despite never having seen her before, I recognized on sight. Her clothing made her identity obvious-she was Mira Hakurei, the Hakurei maiden. And even from that first sight of her, it was quite clear that she did not want to be there._

_The man spoke first. "__I imagine you know why we're here."_

"_I do," Byakuren said. "__Do you?"_

_"__Let me guess: you're looking to launch into some speech about how we're doing this for all the wrong reasons. But we're not. You have been protecting the youkai you claimed to kill."_

_"__Let me ask you this: when have I ever claimed that I kill youkai?"_

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You're a youkai hunter; of course you kill-" He stopped mid-sentence._

_"That's right," Byakuren said. "I have never once claimed to be a youkai killer." She faced the mob. "I have taken jobs from many of you. Have I ever agreed to kill a youkai?" She paused briefly. "That's right. I have not. In fact, am I not quick to decry requests to kill? Have I not corrected every use of the word? 'I remove youkai; I do not kill them.' How many of you have heard me say that?"_

_"__What the hell did you expect us to think?" the man asked. "You knew damn well we'd assume you were using 'remove' as a euphemism."_

"_I said what I meant. I even corrected people I thought believed that I was using 'remove' euphemistically."_

"_Cut the crap. You show up and act like a youkai hunter, and now you're trying to tell us you never hid your true intentions?"_

_It was Mira who replied. "__She never lied. You all simply drew your own conclusions, despite her words. That's not her fault."_

"_Like hell it's not! She knew we'd assume 'remove' was a euphemism! She knew what we'd think! She's been tricking us this whole time!"_

_"__And why," Byakuren asked, "would I want to do that?"_

_"__To get us to trust you. We know you're one of them. We know you're a youkai."_

_I, not yet knowing that Byakuren had once been human, thought at first that she'd merely been passing herself off as one. The others, of course, knew exactly what was meant._

"_Please explain," Byakuren said. "What does that have to do with this?"_

"_Oh, shut up. You're a youkai. That's all that needs to be said. Or are you going to try and tell us that youkai aren't enemies of humans?"_

_"__I'm not going to _try _to tell you that. I'm going to tell you that. Youkai are not the enemies of humans."_

_"__Yeah, real convincing. The whole attacking-people thing kind of ruins that argument."_

_"__There are humans who kill youkai," Byakuren said. "You even thought me to be one of them. But youkai do not believe that all humans want to kill them."_

_"__Of course not. They know it's self-defense."_

_"__Well, then, what about the humans who kill other humans? Humans are not murderers; certain individual humans are. You do not assume everyone is a murderer just because someone is, do you?"_

_"__Of course not."_

_"__Then why do you make that assumption of youkai?"_

_"__We're not making assumptions. I, for one, have never seen a youkai unless it's attacking someone."_

_"__You've seen me."_

_"__You're trying a strategy. You're trying to make us feel safe around you, make us think you're on our side, so that we don't suspect you. But you're not fooling us any longer."_

_"__If that were true, I'd have struck long before now. But I have no desire or intent to do so."_

_"__You can't be trusted. We know that, and you can't fool us any longer."_

_"So you're here to… 'deal with me'?"_

_"__Yeah, no shit."_

_"__Then do it," Byakuren said. "Kill me."_

_"__Don't think we're here unprepared," the man said. "We know your secret. We know you took power from Makai. We know you can't be killed."_

_That was the first I'd heard of that, but Byakuren's followers seemed to know exactly what the man was talking about. As, of course, did Byakuren. "And yet you're here. If you know that you cannot kill me, then what do you intend to do?"_

_"We can't kill you," the man said, "but we can ensure you do no harm. Your minions will be killed, of course, but you we will simply seal away."_

_I prepared to fight, but the others were still watching Byakuren. "I cannot accept their deaths," she said. "They have not even done the wrong you say I have. And even were that not the case, I do not want anyone here to come to any harm. And I include all of you in that statement, as well. So I say this: if you promise to do nothing beyond sealing me, I will not resist."_

_The man was silent for a moment. "Very well," he said, and there was a general murmur of agreement. "We will not-"_

_What happeden next was, to put it mildly, unexpected: Mira Hakurei punched the man in the face. "You shut the fuck up, Rio." She spun to face the mob. "All of you just_ shut the fuck up_!"_

_It'd been clear that Mira didn't really like what was happening, but even knowing that, the… intensity of her reaction was quite a surprise. __"__I have __had __it with this!" she exclaimed to the crowd. "You know damn well you intend to kill every youkai here! And you have the nerve to call her a liar! You're just a bunch of fucking hypocrites!"_

_"__Damn it, woman," the man named Rio said as he got to his feet, "you know we're right. You're a youkai exterminator yourself. You know they're evil."_

_Mira spun to face Rio. "You only got one thing right, and that's that I'm a youkai exterminator. And because I am, I know very well that Byakuren's in the right here. And so would you, if you actually gave a shit about that."_

_"__What the hell are you talking about? You know she's full of shit!"_

_"__Oh, fuck you. Do you know just how many innocent youkai I've hunted? How many innocent youkai I've killed?"_

"_No such thing."_

"_Not every youkai has caused problems. Not every youkai has killed."_

"_Not every youkai has caused problems or killed _yet_. They will eventually."_

"_Wrong. Most youkai are innocent of such things, and I've killed many of them. Far too many. I couldn't keep doing it. That, Rio, is why _I _no longer claim to kill youkai. I will kill the ones that truly are guilty, but for the ones that aren't, I do the same thing as Byakuren. I relocate them. Like her, I have constantly decried jobs telling me to kill youkai. I have made no secret of the fact that most of the time I simply remove them. In fact, I've used the same words she has: 'I do not kill youkai; I remove them'. But you're not taking up arms against me, now, are you? And do you know why you aren't?" She faced the mob again. "Do any of you know?"_

_There was no response. "Of course you know," Mira said. "You just don't want to say it. So I'll say it for you: the reason you're attacking Byakuren but not me is because I am a human, whereas she is a youkai."_

_"__Well, obviously," Rio said. "You say that like it doesn't mean anything."_

_Mira punched him in the gut and shoved him to the ground. "Because it fucking doesn't!" She faced the mob again. "What the fuck is wrong with you people? Do you really think that she's evil just because she's not human? Just because she's a youkai?" Silence. "Well, what about the fact that she used to be human? Are you saying that becoming a youkai made her evil?"_

_Another piece of information I hadn't known. I was quickly learning that Byakuren was a most unusual individual._

_"__Of course that didn't turn her evil," Rio said, getting to his feet again. "Only an evil human would want to be a youkai in the first-"_

_Mira kicked him back down. "Shut the fuck up before I rip out your fucking tongue!" She faced the group again. "You are attempting to imprison an innocent woman and kill other innocent women. That is something I cannot condone. The only evil here is that perpetrated by you. And yet…"_

_Mira indicated Byakuren. "Byakuren has consented to the sealing," she said, "so I will perform it. But if any of you take any action-_any_ action, even the most insignificant-against any other youkai here, then I'll be introducing you to a youkai who does deserve your hatred, and I will do absolutely nothing but watch as it fucking eats you alive! Any questions?" Silence. "Good." She pointed at a few people. "You, you, you, and you, you're the most magically skilled of the group. You four stay here. Everyone else will leave now." She picked Rio off the ground and shoved him at the mob. "That means you, too, Rio. All of you will leave, and you will not come back." A pause. "That means _right fucking now_!"_

_That was enough to drive the mob off. "I'm sorry," Mira said, turning to face Byakuren. "I do not want to do this, but…"_

_"__I understand," Byakuren said. "Do it; I will not hold it against you." She looked over at her followers. "Please, do not interfere."_

_None of the others were happy about this, of course, but they all nodded anyways. Then Byakuren looked at me. "And you, I do not know you, but please, just let things be. Don't try to help me; you'll only make things worse."_

_I nodded, too, but unlike the others, Byakuren's situation didn't concern me; that day was the first time I'd ever even seen her. I did prefer not having to kill my way out of that situation, though. Oh, sure, I was still quite willing to kill at that point in time, but I've never exactly been fond of massacres, and a massacre is exactly what it would have been. So I was glad to see there wouldn't be a fight. In fact, I probably could have just left at that point, but I was curious to see what sort of seal Mira planned to form that required four others to assist. Had I known what was about to happen, I'd have chosen differently._

"_Thank you," Byakuren said. "Mira, you may begin whenever you are ready."_

_"__All right." She paused. "Damn it, why does it have to be like this?"_

_"__It is not your fault. It's not something any one person can change. But it will change. It may be hundreds of years until it changes, but eventually, it will change."_

_"__I hope so. And I will do all that I can to hurry it along. I don't want any of my descendants to have to do something like this. And I hope I never have to do it again."_

_"__Yes, you do seem to… feel strongly about this._

_Mira laughed, although it sounded forced. "Yeah, um, sorry about that."_

_"__No apology is necessary. I may not be fond of the… forceful language you used, but it is not my place to condemn one for using such language. And it is the thoughts behind the words that truly matter, anyways. I do not approve of your threat, either, of course. Even if it was just a bluff."_

_"I don't bluff," Mira said._

_"Well, I do not approve, but your actions are your choice, so I will say no more. Are you ready to perform my sealing?"_

_"__I suppose so." Mira paused. "Damn, how can you be so calm about this?"_

_"__I am quite upset, actually, but showing this would serve no purpose. One must-"_

_Behind Mira's back, two of the four selected villagers-a man and a woman-had been working on preparations for Byakuren's sealing, as had the other two. But this pair, it turned out, had been readying something else, as well, and they chose that moment to leap into action._

_Murasa and I were the first targets. I reacted faster, and almost managed a successful evasion, but the man managed to, just barely, hit one of my wings with his charm. The next thing I knew, I was underground with Murasa, whose ship was also there with us. Ichirin and Nazrin appeared a moment later._

_We did not witness the rest of that incident, of course, but Byakuren later filled us in. She saw us get sent underground, as did Mira. And apparently, Mira was not amused. "Ali! Kino! What the __hell__ did you just do?"_

_"__What had to be done," Kino said. "Don't worry; they haven't been harmed. They have simply been sent to the sealed underground-along with that ghost's ship, I would assume, since it and she are bound. No harm has come to them. We didn't violate the agreement."_

_"__Do _not_ try that bullshit with me," Mira said. "You have just made the worst mistake of your lives. Now get in position so we can perform the sealing before I get even more pissed off and just fucking kill you right here! Neke, Nara, you too." Then she faced Byakuren. "Um…"_

"_Continue," Byakuren said. "What the two of them did is on them, not you. And I'm assuming that you have a consequence in mind, but let me just say that it's better to be forgiving."_

"_Yeah, no."_

"_Well, it is your decision. Still, I would encourage mercy. Anyways, please, do what you are here to do."_

_The four and Mira took positions around Byakuren. The four channeled magical energy, but it was Mira who did all the actual work._

_Mira stepped back when she was finished, when only the final touch remained. "Neke, Nara," she said, "you two can leave." They did, and Mira faced the other two. "You two, on the other hand, are staying with me." She magically restrained them. "You just wait right there. Once I finish this up, I'll be introducing you to somebody who will _love _having guests for dinner." Then she finished the seal, sending Byakuren to Makai and trapping her there._

_I liked Mira. I may have only met her the one time, but she made something of an impression. I would have liked to get to know her, actually, but unfortunately, she died long before the underground was unsealed. The current Mira does remind me of her, though, although I don't think this one has fed anybody to youkai. But she is, like her namesake, completely unwilling to take any shit from anyone. And that's a trait I admire._

* * *

><p>"So," Keine said as Byakuren, Nue, and Levia entered the schoolhouse, "you seem to have picked up a new companion."<p>

Levia stepped forward. "I am Levia. Hmm… I was told that Keine would likely wonder if I might turn out to be a threat to the village. You are her, I assume."

"I… I am."

"Yeah, sorry about that," Nue said. "Levia here is… unusual."

"I like unusual," Tenshi said, getting to her feet. "I'm Tenshi. Keine you've already identified, and the oni is Yuugi."

Levia stared at Yuugi for a moment. "Interesting. It seems we share a certain desire."

"What?"

"You harbor hatred," Levia said. "You desire to kill as many Shades as you possibly can. I, too, know that they must be eliminated."

"Well," Yuugi said, "you've got that much right."

Keine stood. "Well, Levia, as long as you don't cause problems, you're welcome in the village. Are you staying with Byakuren?"

"She is providing a place, yes."

"That's Byakuren for you," Tenshi said. "So what happened? If Byakuren got involved, I'd assume you were in some sort of trouble. What was it? Illness? Home got destroyed? Needed help with a Shade attack?"

"I awoke without a world to bring to its end."

Silence.

"Well," Tenshi said. "Have to say, that's not the answer I was expecting."

"It's a long story," Nue said. "'Ren, why don't you fill them in? I'll take Levia back to the house."

"No objections," Byakuren said.

"Right. Come on, Levia. I'll show you around the village, and by the time we're done, it'll be evening. 'Ren, what say we meet up at Lorelei's?" Byakuren nodded. "Great. Come on, Levia."

* * *

><p>Mokou sat on the dock, watching the sun set. Even in the month since leaving the underground, she hadn't seen one. She'd kept to the forest, but even had she not, she likely would have avoided such a thing. Avoided something that would so strongly remind her of Utsuho.<p>

Mokou didn't even have to look to know Kaguya was coming up behind her. "What do you want?"

"Just to talk." Kaguya took a seat beside Mokou.

Mokou stood. "Not interested."

"Just avoiding it, then? You should know that's not going to help."

"…Fine." She sat back down. "You're wasting time, though. I already know what you're going to say."

"Oh?"

"You're just going to say that I'm not responsible because I'm not the one who threw you in."

"Or the one who made the sun. Or the one who came up with the idea. You didn't do it; you only allowed it. Still bad, but not on the same level."

"And then there's the part about me making up for it by getting you out."

"That does mean a fair amount. And there's also the fact that I am kind of responsible for getting your father killed."

"Doesn't change anything."

"Look, Mokou. Yes, you did something wrong. But I'm not completely innocent, either. But when you rather forcefully pointed out how many people my 'impossible requests' were killing, did I just sit around pitying myself?"

"You ended the challenge. And shut up. It may have been your fault, but most of those people were stupid."

"You mean they got themselves killed, even if they did it because of my challenge. And that's exactly right. They got killed doing stupid things. But the point is that issuing that challenge was a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, does things they regret."

"Your 'victims' brought it on themselves. Even… my father."

"I don't think you've ever acknowledged that before."

"Well, it's true."

"Just as it's true that Utsuho, not you, trapped me within that sun."

"Gah, stop saying that! Stop saying it wasn't my fault!"

"…Fine." Kaguya stood up. "But, Mokou?"

Mokou sighed. "What?"

Kaguya kicked her off the dock and into the water. "Snap the hell out of it. If you feel so bad about what you did, then work to make up for it. But don't just sit around moping. That doesn't help anyone."

Mokou rose out of the water and landed on the dock. "What the hell would you know?"

"Well," Kaguya said as she walked away, "I did have my family and entire society tell me to leave and never come back. I haven't always had a happy life, you know. Maybe you should think about that."

* * *

><p>'Lorelei's' was a popular establishment, as was evident as soon as Byakuren, Nue, and Levia entered. They were immediately greeted by one of the staff. "Welcome! Oh, Miss Byakuren! And Nue, too! And… someone new! Excellent! Byakuren, Nue, I already know for you." She turned towards Levia. "Herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore?"<p>

"Carnivore," Levia said. "Meat only."

"Cooked or raw?"

"Raw. Living or just killed."

"Sure thing. This way, please."

In contrast to the rest of the restaurant, the section the three of them were led to was only about half-filled. It was smaller, too, and off to the side and out of sight of most of the other tables, although it did still have a good view of the raised platform in the center of the building. The trio was quickly seated, and the waitress handed them each a menu, Levia getting a different one than the other two.

Restaurants, as well as food stands or other such things, were a new concept for Levia, but Nue had explained how they worked. Still, Levia did have some questions, especially concerning this particular establishment, which was fairly unusual in that it accommodated almost every type of diet.

Levia looked around. "Everyone in this section appears to either share my variety of diet or is with someone who does," she noted.

"Some people, mainly among humans, are uncomfortable with witnessing the feeding habits of some youkai," Nue explained. "This place wants to accommodate everyone, though, so they just put anyone who prefers raw meat in here so nobody else has to see it."

"They may do as they please. It is no concern of mine. Now… you make a selection from the menu, correct?"

Nue nodded. "Pick what you want. They gave you the carnivore menu, so there's nothing but meat on it."

Levia looked her menu over. "This is not to my liking. I consume plain meat."

"Back of the menu," Nue said. The fact that a youkai who'd been asleep ever since her existence began somehow knew to read wasn't even worth noting.

Levia examined the menu. "Yes, this is preferable. Do they bring the animal alive?"

"No. That's about the one thing they don't do. Even in this section, people killing their own food would freak out far too many other customers. They will kill it and then immediately bring it out, though."

"That is sufficient."

The three made their choices, and a waitress soon came by and took their order. Levia's came quickly, as there was no cooking to be done, and she immediately tore into it, paying no attention to cleanliness or other manners of etiquette. Not that this was unusual among those with her manner of diet. And in addition, eating something that had just been killed was inherently messier. All of which had been taken into account when the establishment was built.

The tables in the raw-meat section all sat on easily-washed mats. After a meal, the staff would replace the mats with clean ones, bringing the used ones back for washing. The tables themselves were of a unique design, made with the consumption of fresh kills in mind. Where one would normally expect to see placemats and plates, there were instead trough-like bowls. The order was set in the bowl for eating with whatever implements or lack thereof the diner preferred. Each bowl had a drain for blood, carrying it into the back where it was gathered for disposal. And to accommodate mixed parties, those in which not everyone needed raw meat, a wooden flap could be slid out over each bowl, allowing for the placement of more standard dishes.

The staff at Lorelei's always greeted customers by name whenever they knew the names, there was no dress code other than 'be wearing clothes', and nobody spoke formally. The staff was very friendly to patrons, and it was common to see workers stop and chat with people. And then, of course, there were the constant calls in the background.

"Fry a turd in the garden!"

"Drown the kids and a cup of mud!"

"Hemorrhage a charcoal!"

"Crying mother walking!"

"Mother-child reunion, and cremate it!"

"They seem to be speaking nonsense," Levia observed.

"It's part of the atmosphere," Nue said. "They took the idea from the outside world, where slang terms were common in certain establishments. Don't know if that's still done on the outside, since nothing's come through the border from anywhere for five centuries, but Mystia decided to use it."

"…I see."

All of a sudden, the background noise faded to nothing. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise," Byakuren said.

"What is happening?" Levia asked.

Nue indicated the raised platform. "Mystia's about to put on a performance. See those three on the stage, there?"

"I see them. They do not live, do they? They feel similar to the dead. I believe they are ghosts of some variety."

"Poltergeists," Nue said. "Those are the Prismrivers. They play music. And the bird youkai stepping up onto the stage is Mystia Lorelei."

"Lorelei. This place bears that name. Is it hers?"

"It is. She originally had a food stand in the forest nearby, where she specialized in lamprey eel. It was only recently-about four years ago-that she opened this place. She decided that she wanted a place where everyone could come for a meal, regardless of what they are or what they eat. She still has the stand, and most of the time, she still runs it herself, but sometimes she makes appearances here. She does some of the cooking-that's always been one of her passions-but she also puts on performances, singing being her other passion. By the way, if you have to speak during the show, whisper."

The Prismrivers had no need for 'amplifiers' or other equipment that had apparently been common in the outside world. Somehow, their music just sounded the way they wanted it to, even if that should require more or different instruments than they had, and it could be heard clearly by the entire audience. Similarly, Mystia had no use for a microphone; her voice was strong enough and carried well enough that she simply didn't need one. How she could sing multiple vocal parts simultaneously, nobody knew, but in Gensokyo, one learned quickly that it was pointless to ask 'how'.

There was no preamble; as soon as the performers were ready, the show began. The Prismrivers played, and Mystia sang:

_I can't feel my senses  
><em>_I just feel the cold  
><em>_All colors  
><em>_Seem to fade away  
>I can't reach my soul<em>

_I would stop running  
><em>_If I knew there was a chance  
>It tears me apart<br>__To sacrifice it all  
><em>_But I'm forced to let go_

_Tell me I'm frozen  
><em>_But what can I do?  
>Can't tell the reasons<br>__I did it for you  
>When lies turn into truth<br>__I sacrificed for you  
>You say that I'm frozen<br>__But what can I do?_

"Interesting," Levia said, keeping her voice down to a whisper. "Many such people would smell of pride, but there is no such scent among any of those four."

"The Prismrivers are poltergeist musicians," Nue said, also in a whisper. Playing their music is their purpose. And since these are poltergeists, that's meant literally. As for Mystia, she just loves to sing. Always has, as far as I know."

"That was my conclusion, as well."

"There's no need to think about anything like that," Byakuren said, keeping her voice down as well. "Just enjoy the performance."

* * *

><p>"I will confess that the entire concept of a 'restaurant' makes little sense to me," Levia said as the three of them exited the building. "I understand getting food from someone, or even having a meal specially prepared by another, but turning it into some form of… entertainment, or what else you would call it? That, I cannot understand."<p>

"Sometimes," Byakuren said, "people just want to spend time together. Places like Lorelei's are quite good for such things. The atmosphere helps, too, I would have to say."

"As do the performances," Nue said.

"True. They are quite skilled performers. But I think that truly appeals to people is that Lorelei's is a place where they can come to relax, to briefly forget their worries. And in today's world, such a thing is more important than ever."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, it looks like Levia is none too fond of Shades.<strong>

**Some of you may question my portrayal of Tenshi, but remember, five hundred years have passed. In that time, she's gained an increased respect for proper strategic and tactical thinking, although she does still enjoy the fighting part just as much.**

**We also had our introduction to Mira Hakurei, both the current Hakurei maiden and the ancestor for whom she was named. Anyone who read Orphan probably recognized the scene where the original Mira sealed Byakuren. I tried writing a different version, but nothing I came up with was as good, so I just reused the one from Orphan, although I did rewrite it to be from Nue's perspective instead of Byakuren's, and also made some minor phrasing changes and the like.**

**The restaurant scene came about as a result of me wondering what such an establishment might be like in Gensokyo. Not one that catered just to humans, but one that was open to all. The variety of youkai in Gensokyo would necessitate a very wide variety of dishes. And then I wondered what people might think of eating next to someone who was devouring a just-killed animal, and it went from there. The slang terms (many of which are real-life slang terms) were just for fun. I had it be Mystia's place simply because I wanted to have her sing. And no, I don't know how she can perform multiple parts or the Prismrivers can play more instruments than they have or play ones they don't have. It's Gensokyo; just go with it. By the way, the song Mystia sang is called Frozen, by Within Temptation. The reason I chose Within Temptation is because I think their lead vocalist has a good voice for Mystia.**

**Anyways, that's all for now. As always, reviews are encouraged and appreciated.**


	5. Chapter 5: Outside Influences

**Chapter 5  
><strong>_Outside Influence_

"Actually," Yuugi said, "I have come across something like that. Didn't know what it was, but it certainly didn't look natural. There are eight of them, right?"

"Yes," Nue said. "Eight pieces. This one's already in the tablet, and if you really do have another, then that's number two."

"I have it," Yuugi said. "It's back at home, but I have it. Kept it as a prize; it was a fairly nasty group of Shades that dropped it."

"I see."

It was the morning after returning from Seafront, and Nue was already eager to get started hunting Shades. Yuugi, of course, had been eager to join her, as had Levia. At the moment, Nue and Yuugi were heading into the village center to find Mamizou, the best person in the village to go to for news, gossip, rumors, and the like.

Mamizou could usually be found in a small tavern in the village center, where she often sang. She wasn't nearly as good as Mystia, but she wasn't at all bad. She liked it because of how much one can overhear in a tavern.

Mamizou was there when Nue and Yuugi entered, and she quickly made her way over to the pair. "Hey, Nue."

"Hey, Mam'."

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?"

"56,392."

"With a margin of error of plus/minus anything, since you made that number up on the spot."

"Seventy-three percent of all statistics are made up on the spot."

"Sixty-one percent," Mamizou said. She turned to Yuugi. "And hello to you as well."

"Hi," Yuugi said. "Nue says you're the best person to ask about Shade activity."

"Ah, yes. Going Shade hunting, aren't you, Nue? Heard about that from Tenshi. Not surprised Yuugi's decided to join you. And what about that woman you found yesterday, Levia? I understand she has a fairly strong dislike of Shades, too."

"She is fairly likely to come, but we need a destination first."

Mamizou thought for a minute. "I think I have one for you, but I can't say it'll be pleasant. It seems there's been significant Shade activity near the Aerie."

"I'll go wherever Shades are," Nue said.

"Me, too," Yuugi said, "but you're right, Mamizou; it's not a pleasant destination."

"Have you been there?" Nue asked.

"Yeah, once, about a couple weeks ago. I don't think they were very happy to see me. 'Course, tengu've never been too happy to see an oni."

"Trust me," Mamizou said, "it has nothing to do with you being an oni. They treat everyone like that."

"Whatever. Long as there's Shades to kill, I don't care. We've got our destination, Nue. Let's get moving. The sooner we get there, the sooner Shades start dying."

* * *

><p><em>The old tengu village, or what's left of it, was abandoned long ago. It took a lot of damage in the initial Shade attack, and the berserk kappa machines didn't do it any favors, either. The tengu remained there for quite some time, but the village never managed to recover. Some moved to other towns and villages, but most wanted a new tengu village. So they built one, one they decided to call 'The Aerie'. <em>

_The Aerie is not your ordinary village. The tengu chose a location most would have stayed far away from. The village was built on the walls of a narrow-and very deep-canyon at the base of the mountain. Basically, it's all built against cliff walls._

_The only 'buildings' in the village are the small, cylindrical houses. Wooden walkways, ladders, and rope bridges connect them to each other, and to the few circular wooden platforms between the cliffsides. These platforms rest atop long, long poles that go all the way down to the ground._

_All this makes the village extremely difficult to navigate on foot. Not that this bothers the tengu, since they can all fly. Most youkai can, although some can't. And, of course, there are also many humans who can't. You might think that, since the tengu don't need them, all these bridges and ladders were made with visitors in mind, but only if you've never been there. Or heard accounts of what the place is like. Namely, accommodating visitors is the last thing the people there would do._

* * *

><p>"The Aerie," Byakuren said. "Such a sad place. If only they would be more open."<p>

"It's their choice," Nue said. "As much of a shithole as the place is, it's their choice to have it be that way."

"I hardly think 'shithole' is appropriate, but you're right that they live as they choose to, even if it is the wrong choice. They would be much better off were they only more open to others."

"Well, they're not, and I don't need them to be. As long as someone can point me to the Shades, I'm happy."

"Are you sure about this, Nue? I don't want you risking yourself like this."

"I'm doing it," Nue said. "I'm not letting this thing take you."

"I… I don't want it to take me, either, but… I'm not sure you can stop it."

"It's hurting again, isn't it?"

"It is," Byakuren said. "Not as sharply as yesterday, but it's holding for longer. It should fade again soon."

"That's not how it usually happens. The pain's supposed to come slowly. But yesterday, it came on suddenly, and now you have it again. Way outside the norm."

"Yes," Byakuren said. "I… Nue, there's no way to know how much time I have left."

"As much as you want. I'm not letting this thing take you."

"Nue, you know this is a long shot."

"It's a far better lead than any other I've found. And if it leads to nothing, then I'll find another to follow."

"If only it were that simple. I don't want to die, Nue, but… it may not be possible to prevent it. What are you going to do if that's how it is?"

"It won't be. I'm not stopping until I find a way."

"And if you can't? Nue, what are you going to do if I do die?"

Nue was silent for a while. "I… I don't know Byakuren. I just… I don't know."

* * *

><p>When Mokou made her way out of Seafront, she found Kaguya waiting for her. "Trying to leave without me?"<p>

"Yes," Mokou said.

"Oh? And what happened to not abandoning me?"

"I'm not. I brought you here. You'll be fine here. So now I'm leaving you here."

"Sorry, but no. Hell, even if you had left without me, I'd have come on my own. I do know where you're going, you know."

"Then go on your own. But not with me."

"Geez," Kaguya said, "with that attitude, you'd think you were upset over something I did."

"You've done plenty."

"True, but that's not what this is about. This is about what you did. Mokou, at some point, you're going to have to forgive yourself."

"What makes you think you know anything about that?"

"Getting thousands of people killed with my 'Impossible Requests'."

"Shut up," Mokou said.

"Okay. Better hurry, or I'll get there first!" Kaguya shot into the air, heading towards the mountain.

Mokou watched her fly away. _Damn it,_ she thought as she took to the air herself.

* * *

><p>Nue landed a short ways up the mountain, Yuugi and Levia touching down beside her. "Next direction," Levia said.<p>

"Right through that cave," Nue said, pointing at the cave in question. "Just a short way through there, and we're at the Aerie."

Before they could head for the cave, the area in front of them suddenly filled with a purple mist. The mist soon cleared, leaving the figure of a woman in its place. "Unfortunate souls come to visit the mountain, lay your misfortunes bare before me."

Yuugi stepped forward. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am Hina Kagiyama, god of curses and misfortune, and you are within my lands."

"She's not important," Nue said. "Just another of the gods that live here. Hasn't had this kind of attitude before, though."

"Nue Houjuu," Hina said. "I haven't seen you since before the Radiance."

"Shows how much attention you pay to 'your' lands, doesn't it? I have been here a few times since then. Not frequently, but it's happened."

"You and others never showed me the respect and reverence due a god, but that time has long since passed."

"Okay," Nue said, "let's just keep this simple, okay? We're heading for the Aerie to kill Shades."

"You can't ignore me any longer," Hina said, "can't simply push me aside. I used to be weak, but misfortune now rules Gensokyo, and my power has reached entirely new levels."

Nue sighed. "Good for you. Congratulations and all that. Now, please allow us to pass. I'd rather not waste time here."

"Still you try to push me aside," Hina said. "Still you try to keep your distance from me. Do you know how much time I spent in isolation? How long I was alone? But no longer is that the case. People come to me now, offering faith in exchange for my blessing. They are desperate for a respite from the misfortune of their lives. And I can provide them with such a thing. No longer am I a neglected deity, a lost god wandering the mountain alone."

"She doesn't seem quite sane," Nue remarked.

"I think we just hit a sore spot," Yuugi said. "You're trying to move quickly, but she was reminded of this solitary past of hers. I've only just met her, but it looks to me like she fears being left alone again, and fear can make people act irrationally. Yeah, she could've given a better introduction, but she's probably used to playing that role for its impression on the locals."

"I will not be left alone again," Hina said. "I will not accept solitude again. You can't cast me aside now. My power is far greater than you know. No longer can you or anyone el-"

Levia dashed forward without warning, grabbing Hina before the goddess could react and slamming her into the ground. Then she picked Hina up and ran her into and through several trees. She then wrapped her whip around Hina, and the other end of her whip around her own arm. She punched Hina in the gut, and Hina went flying back. Until Levia pulled back, yanking Hina back to her. She hit Hina again, and again pulled her back. She continued in this manner, repeatedly sending Hina flying but then pulling her back for another hit. Over and over and over. Eventually, Levia released Hina from the whip, grabbed her by the leg, and spun her around through several more trees before slamming her into the ground, still holding the leg. She swung Hina over her head and slammed her into the ground again. She repeated this several more times, then she, still holding Hina by the leg, leapt into the air. She spun Hina around and flung her into the ground.

Levia landed in front of the completely stunned and dazed Hina. "You overestimate yourself."

Nue and Yuugi were speechless. Yuugi recovered first. "Holy _shit_, Levia."

Levia turned to face her. "Was that… excessive?"

"Yeah, but who cares? That was the best thing I've seen in a thousand years!"

"Yes, it was excessive," Nue said.

"She is a god," Levia said. "That will not kill her. Had I meant to kill her, I would have had to approach the battle in a significantly different manner."

Yuugi laughed. "'Battle'? That wasn't a battle. That was the greatest beatdown I've ever seen!"

Nue walked over to Hina. "Are you all right?"

All Hina could manage was a barely-audible moan. Nue turned to Levia. "Do try not to be immediately hostile to anything but Shades."

"You were correct," Levia said. "She is not entirely sane. When you expressed a desire to move on with our purpose here, you touched in her a constant fear, one that, I can tell, she has harbored for a significant period of time. Combat was going to occur; had you continued to express a desire to continue with our business here, she would have attacked before allowing us to continue. I simply struck first."

"I don't know if the situation was beyond salvaging."

"You do not know others' emotions as I do. Had you made such an attempt, Hina, rationality already giving way to her constant fear, would have seen this as an attempt to divert her from such concerns and brush her aside as was done to her in the past."

"That's not rational."

"As I said, you were correct to say that she is not entirely sane. Your desire to move on quickly immediately marked you as a threat to her somewhat fragile state."

"I still think you should've waited a bit."

"Who cares?" Yuugi said. "That was awesome."

"Whatever. You do realize this presents us with a problem, right? I don't think just leaving her here is exactly the best idea."

"Then we bring her with us," Yuugi said. With one hand, she picked up Hina, carrying the goddess over her shoulder as the group moved on.

* * *

><p>Kaguya landed in a clearing near the top of the mountain. <em>Almost at the top, where the shrine is. I think. I'll ask Mokou. She should be here in three… two… one…<em>

Mokou landed in front of Kaguya. "What are you doing? This isn't where Kanako's shrine is."

"I've never been there. Kanako visited me once, but I've never been to the shrine."

Mokou sighed. "You're useless. Just keep going up. The shrine's at the top."

"Okay," Kaguya said. "Let's-"

"You are here to visit the shrine?"

The pair spun around to see a woman approaching them. "I can lead you there," she said, "but first, I would have your names."

"Mokou," Mokou said, "and the pain in the ass is Kaguya."

"Ah, the immortals of the forest. I've heard of you, though it's been some time since either of you was last seen. I am Shizuha Aki, goddess of autumn."

"'Shizuha'," Mokou said. "I've heard that name before. You're that harvest goddess' sister, right?"

"I am. She spoke of you a few times. Said she saw you often at harvest festivals and other such occasions. At least, she used to. You left shortly before the Radiance, did you not?"

"Yeah. I've been living underground for the past five hundred years. But, well, things have changed recently."

"Things have been changing rather steadily over the past five hundred years. For the worse, unfortunately, and it has taken its toll on me and my sister. But I don't want to burden you with my problems. You're bound for the Moriya Shrine, correct? That is my destination as well. I'll take you there."

"Thanks," Kaguya said. "Let's-"

Something moved by overhead, and all three of them looked up. "Shades," Shizuha said. "Tengu-types."

"Then we're in for a sight," Mokou said. "Tengu-types don't act alone."

"I think these ones are," Shizuha said. "There were a few scattered groups around without other Shades yesterday, too. They're why I'm bound for the shrine; I intend to confer with Kanako and Suwako on this."

"I didn't see any on the way here," Kaguya said.

"Well, be that as it may, they are clearly here now."

"And all these trees'll make seeing and targeting them difficult," Mokou said. "I guess we're walking. Irritating." She sighed. "Well, let's get going. Lead the way, Shizuha."

* * *

><p>"I do not understand why we are walking through this cave," Levia said. "Could we not fly into the village directly? For what reason must we land elsewhere and pass through here?"<p>

"If any outsider flies into-or within-the village," Nue said, "the tengu will attack them immediately. They interpret it as an act of aggression. They insist that everyone enter through here. Not that they're happy to see you even then."

"Maybe you should go in on your own," Yuugi said. "You won't need help just to ask questions, and you can change what you look like, can't you? Just go in as a tengu, and they won't be so hostile, right?"

"They're hostile to anyone who doesn't live there, other tengu included, and I've barely even seen anyone here. No way I could pull off an impersonation. No, we'll have to put up with their attitude."

As the group neared the exit, they came to an opening in the side of this cave. This opening led outside the cave, to a fairly decent-sized clearing surrounded by the rock of the mountain. A small shelter stood at the far end of the clearing, against the rock wall. The structure had only three walls; the side facing into the clearing had no wall and was completely open.

Yuugi turned into the clearing, Nue and Levia following behind her. "This is a good place to set Hina down," she said. "I'll wait here with her; we shouldn't carry her around any more than we have to, and it'll probably make things harder on you if an oni goes in with you."

"I was thinking the same thing," Nue said. "We'll be back once we have a lead on where to find the Shades."

Yuugi set Hina down on the small bed in the shelter, then took a seat on the chair that was its only other furnishing. "We'll be here. Do try and make it quick, though. I'm eager to get Shade hunting."

"I'll make it quick. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to, anyways. Come on, Levia."

"Why is that structure there?" Levia asked as she followed Nue back into the cave.

"Only the people of the Aerie know," Nue said, "and as one might expect, they aren't telling."

"Are the people here truly so hostile to others?"

"You're about to see for yourself."

* * *

><p>"The Shades seem to be causing trouble everywhere," Kaguya said as she and Mokou followed Shizuha up the mountain."<p>

"Indeed," Shizuha said, "although we have that situation more under control than does anywhere else in Gensokyo, I think. Kanako and Suwako have made a point of eliminating every shade they're able to locate, and they're quite effective at it. They can't actually sense the Shades, of course, not even on this mountain, their domain, which their senses extend throughout. But they have other ways of knowing what's happening on the mountain, and they've proven able to locate the Shades very effectively. And their reliable elimination of these Shades has garnered them a great deal of faith. Which, of course, enables them to do even more."

"I imagine they had more to start with, too," Mokou said. "Adversity always drives people to the gods."

"True," Shizuha said. "Most of the mountain's gods have seen at least some increase in faith since the Radiance, although it hasn't sustained for all of us. Hina Kagiyama, goddess of curses and misfortune, is one of the two who've benefited most."

"Who's the other?" Kaguya asked.

"The god who has benefited the most," Shizuha said, "is actually me."

"You? Aren't you some autumn goddess?"

"She is the goddess of turning leaves," Mokou said. "She's seen as a symbol of death, and in a dying world, it's hardly surprising that her faith has increased."

"I represent _change_," Shizuha said. "Death is not an end, but a change. It is the transition from one state to another. The leaves change, the seasons change, lives change, everything changes. Change is the one constant. Death is simply a great change; the transition from life to death is the greatest change one goes through."

"Either way," Mokou said, "it's due to the state of the world that you've been getting more faith."

"Yes," Shizuha said. "Significantly more. I have not tested myself against Kanako or Suwako-we ill need to fight among ourselves with the world in this state-but I may well have surpassed them." Her voice quieted. "But it's not enough."

"What do you mean?" Kaguya asked.

"Huh?"

"You said 'it's not enough'."

"Oh. Um…"

"What's it not enough for?"

"…My sister, Minoriko."

"The harvest goddess," Mokou said. "Of course."

"I don't get it," Kaguya said. "What's going on?"

"I told you that there is less and less fertile land."

"Yes, I think I recall you mentioning that. Is that affecting your sister, Shizuha?"

"When it began," Shizuha said, "the people had faith that she could stop it, and her power grew. But she failed to halt the spread of infertility. She hasn't even been able to say anything about its cause. She says she's never felt anything like it."

"And her failure has hurt her faith."

Shizuha nodded. "Before the Radiance, I was weak, too weak to exist on my own. Nobody gave faith to a god such as I. I would have long since faded had Minoriko not shared her faith with me. Now, our positions are revered. I am the one with faith and power, far more than my sister or I ever dreamed of having, and she is the weak one. As she failed again and again to halt the spread of infertility, people's faith in her faded. Even now, she is nowhere close to as weak as I used to be, but she is far less than she was before the Radiance. Or would be, if not for me. As she once shared her faith, now I share mine. And I have far more of it to share. Thanks to me, she now is actually far stronger than she was before the Radiance, but even when I gave her all of my faith save that which I needed to exist, she could do nothing to halt the spread of infertility, not even when Kanako and Suwako added theirs. It cannot be halted. It will continue to spread until naught remains untainted, and then only you two and the fairies will be able to survive."

It was Kaguya who broke the resulting silence. "That was grim."

"My apologies," Shizuha said. "I didn't mean to burden you with such issues."

"Why not? You can't get help if you keep your problems to yourself."

Shizuha gave a derisive snort. "Nobody can help."

"I can."

"Un-huh. And just how would you be able to help?"

"Okay, so it wouldn't actually be me, but Eirin can solve your problem. There isn't any problem she can't solve. I'll put her on it right away." She paused. "Well, as soon as I find her."

"I won't hold my breath," Shizuha said.

"Oh, would it kill you to show a little optimism?"

"Optimism has no place in a dying world. The sooner you realize this, the less it will hurt."

"Optimism always has a place," Kaguya said. "There's never a time where things can't improve."

* * *

><p>"This is a gloomy place," Levia said.<p>

"Yeah," Nue said.

"It feels… dead. I know there are people here-I can sense them-but even simply from looking around, it is easy to forget this. There is not even a single person in sight. Never before has there been a place so lifeless."

"Be glad everyone's in their homes. Makes our job easier. Nobody to get in our way. We'll only have to deal with hostility from one person."

"Who would that be?"

"The village chief. If anyone here has seen Shades, the chief will've heard about it."

"Do you know where we can find the chief?"

"Up there," Nue said, pointing above to the right, "but we'll have to navigate through the village. We don't want the tengu treating us as aggressors."

Levia took another look around. "The homes appear more like storage units than places to live."

"Yeah. We call them 'huts', but only because we can't think of anything that really does fit."

"I hope you know where we are headed. The layout of this place is confusing."

"I've been to the chief's hut before. Follow me."

Nue led the way. She and Levia crossed the first platform and its bridges, then climbed a ladder up to the top level. They crossed a platformless bridge back to the other side, then made a short ladder climb up to the highest area in the village, a small section with two huts. They passed by the first hut and stopped at the second. "This is it," Nue said. "Across, up, across, up, second hut. Fairly easy to remember, fortunately. The hut is close to the entrance-to allow the chief to easily see when someone's entering-and that helps a lot."

"It still seems needlessly complex. Why can they not simply have a ladder up from the entrance?"

"Only they know," Nue said, "and as you might guess, they aren't telling."

"I see. This is our destination, is it not? Let us ask what we are here to ask; I wish to remain in this place no longer than I absolutely must."

"Agreed," Nue said. She approached the hut and knocked on the door. There was no response, so she knocked again. And then a third time. "Hey! People at the door here!"

That finally got Nue a response. "Leave."

"Yeah, hello to you, too."

"You aren't welcome here, outsiders."

"We heard that there's been unusual Shade activity in the area."

"Good for you. Now get out."

"We're here looking for them. Can you tell us anything?"

"No."

Nue sighed. "Look, all we want to know is where the Shades are. Tell us what you know, and we'll leave."

"I don't know anything about any damn Shades. Now get the hell out."

"We desire only information," Levia said. "Your refusal to provide it only prolongs our presence here, as we will depart as soon as we have obtained it."

"I don't know, okay? Yeah, people've been seeing Shades, but people are always seeing Shades. They're kind of all over the place."

"We're looking for unusual activity," Nue said. "Has there been anything beyond normal sightings?"

"No. Are you done yet?"

Nue sighed. "Let's go, Levia," she said. "I don't think we're going to get anything useful out of this asshole."

"Agreed," Levia said.

"Has he been telling the truth, at least?"

"I…" Levia paused. "That is… unusual. I do not know, Nue. Something is wrong here. I cannot tell. How was I not aware of this until now?"

"I wouldn't know."

"The question was rhetori- wait. I do sense… something. I don't know what it is, but it seems to be interfering with my sense. I cannot sense anything but it, and it is like nothing I have felt before, though it does remind me somewhat of Shades."

"Right," Nue said, "then come on. Let's get back to Yuugi, and fast. Over the side!"

Nue leapt off of the walkway in front of the chief's hut, landing below by the village entrance. Levia came down a couple seconds later. "I thought such things were seen as signs of aggression."

"Only going up," Nue said. "They don't seem to object to jumping down. Now come on, let's move."

The shrine was empty. "They are not here at the moment," Shizuha said. "Hunting down some of these Shades, most like."

"Right," Mokou said. "Guess I'm waiting, then. You can leave any time, Kaguya."

Kaguya sat down on a rock. "Not happening."

"Right. Mind sticking around as well, Shizuha? I'd appreciate the company of someone decent."

"I do intend to wait here," Shizuha said.

"Aw, what's the matter, Mokou?" Kaguya said. "You don't want to spend some quality time alone together?"

"Shut up," Mokou said.

* * *

><p>Nue and Levia returned to the clearing to see Yuugi slam two Shades into each other, then slam them into the ground, destroying them. "Oh, hey," she said, looking up as the pair approached. "I found some Shades. Or they found me. Whatever. Anyways, I took 'em out."<p>

Nue looked over at Levia. "You didn't sense them?"

"I can sense nothing but the unknown something. It is overpowering, drowning out everything else. And I believe it is approaching." A thudding sound became audible. "Also, it would seem to be quite large."

It was only a moment later that the creature appeared, climbing down the rock wall. The large creature did bear some resemblance to the Shades, appearing to share their composition and black/yellow coloration, though it did not share their shadowy, half-extant, shifting appearance; they were all completely solid, but unlike Shades, this creature actually looked it.

The creature planted its forelegs on the ground, supporting its perch on the wall. It gripped the wall with its left hind leg, the only other one it had. Its body stretched back beyond that third leg, curving up and back out over it as a large tail, which ended in what looked to be a crudely-formed hand. Its head narrowed to a point, its mouth lined with sharp teeth. Its eyes appeared to be little more than glowing circles near the point. Some sort of bulbous sack, looking as though it was composed of several smaller sacks, hung from the creature's neck.

Yuugi moved quickly, dashing forward and grabbing Hina from the shelter. She lept back, placed Hina in the cave, then came forward to rejoin Nue and Levia.

"What the hell is that thing?" Nue said.

"What I have been sensing," Levia said. "It may be related to the Shades, but I cannot say so for certain."

"Well, I guess we should ask questions later. Right now, we fight."

"There are tengu-types in the air," Yuugi said. "They showed up with the other Shades."

"Then we stay on the ground. Let's do this."

"First strike!" Yuugi charged forward. The creature raised its left foreleg and slammed it down, creating a shockwave on the ground. Yuugi leapt over the shockwave and punched the creature's face into the ground. It pushed itself up with both legs, slamming back into the ground and creating a much larger shockwave. Yuugi pushed off of the creature, flipped over the wave, and landed next to Nue and Levia as they came down from their leaps over it.

The creature opened its mouth, spewing out a large, chaotic spread of shots. Nue and Yuugi expertly weaved through the shots, whereas Levia simply cleared out the ones heading in her direction with her whip. The creature spewed out another spread. "Get in there and cream it," Nue said. "I'll cover you."

Nue formed three rainbow UFOs and sent them towards the creature. The UFOs sprayed shots in front of them as they moved forward. They were weak shots, but even weak shots could cancel out the shots of Shades, and this creatures magic behaved no differently.

The UFOs took positions around the creature's mouth in a triangular formation, aiming their sprays just in front of the mouth, which almost immediately cleared out each spread it fired. It tried to swipe the UFOs away, but Nue, still in control of their movements, was able to get them out of the way easily. And the UFOs made it easy for Yuugi and Levia to move in on either side of its head. They punched it simultaneously, then Levia slammed its head into the ground.

The beast struck with its hand-shaped tail. Both leapt aside, then Yuugi leapt on top of the tail and began hitting it. The creature swung it upwards in response. Yuugi leapt off, only to get hit intothe wall when the creature swung its tail to the side. She pushed herself off, dropping to the ground beside Nue. "Got a nice hook for something without hands," she said. "Maybe we should call you that."

"Whatever," Nue said. "I'm more concerned with winning."

Levia was still right up in the creature's face. It slammed it's tail down in an attempt to strike her, but she sidestepped, and when the tail struck the ground, she grabbed it and swung, spinning the creature Yuugi had dubbed 'Hook' around once before releasing, sending it into the wall it had been clinging to.

The creature backed up to the top of the wall. Its tail bent down behind it, as though it was reaching for something. Then it swung its tail back over, throwing several spherical… things into the area. "Right," Yuugi said, "now what?"

"They look Shade-like," Nue said. She pierced the nearest one with her trident, and it disappeared. "Vanish when killed the same way, too."

Levia whipped one, and it vanished. "They are easily killed."

The remaining spheres opened fire, each one sending a stream of standard Shade-style shots in a random direction. The objects turned while firing, directing their fire towards Nue, Yuugi, and Levia, although which of the spheres targeted which of them seemed to be random. As they fired, Hook threw in another set of the things. Nue dismissed the rainbow UFOs and formed several green ones, which immediately opened fire, aiming their beams at the spherical creatures. As was normal against Shades, the attack was less effective than physical strikes or close-range magic, but the spheres were weak enough that they still died quickly. And the beams tore through their straight streams of shots even better than the rainbow ones did against spreads. "I've got these," Nue said. "Hit that thing."

"It is above us," Levia said. "Our lack of access to proper flight will make physical combat difficult, and you are better at a distance."

"She's also the best at thinning herds," Yuugi said as another set was thrown in. "'Sides," she added, grabbing one of the spheres and throwing it into Hook's face, "it's not like we don't have options. This thing is being thoughtful enough to provide us with weapons; it'd be rude not to use them.

Levia ensnared one with her whip and flung it into Hook's face. "I suppose they will suffice."

Nue turned one of her UFOs on Hook. "If you two are using a few of them, then I can spare a beam for the big one."

Hook threw in another wave. Yuugi and Levia tossed a few back, and Nue handled the rest. This continued for another two waves, until Hook dropped down to its previous position. As Nue took out the remaining spheres, Levia ran in and slammed its head into the ground again. Then Yuugi charged in, ran up onto it's back, jumped up and grabbed it by the tail, then spun it around and slammed it back into the wall.

Hook retreated up the wall and scurried off in a different direction. "It's heading into the village," Nue said, dismissing her UFOs. "After it!"

* * *

><p>"It's been a while," Kaguya said. "Are those two usually gone for this long?"<p>

"No," Shizuha said. "In fact, it's unusual for both to be gone at the same time. Not unheard of, though. It's happened before. Quite abnormal, however."

"Do you think they're busy dealing with Shades?"

"I would assume so, and given the abnormal activity we've been seeing recently, it's not unreasonable to think that this might be busying them both. I would assume that they are indeed both dealing with…" Shizuha trailed off, and was silent for a few seconds.

"Um, Shizuha?" Kaguya said.

"…Death."

"Excuse me?"

"I sense death. From the tengu village, the Aerie."

"From a village? Are they under attack?"

Shizuha flew off without bothering to answer. "Right," Kaguya said. "Come on, Mokou."

"Come on where?"

"To go help."

"Go on your own," Mokou said. "I'm not here to help everyone who might possibly need it. I'm here on my own business, to figure out what to do about Utsuho, and that takes priority. Shizuha can take care of whatever problem the tengu have. The tengu I remember from before moving underground wouldn't need help, anyways. But if you want to go be a hero, knock yourself out."

Kaguya said nothing.

* * *

><p>The trio emerged from the cave and quickly looked around. Hook was easy to spot; it was on a platform one level up. "I say screw the rules," Yuugi said. "Let's just fly up to the damn thing."<p>

"Look up," Nue said. "There're still tengu-types in the air. We'll have to navigate this place on foot. Come on."

Nue led the way across. The trio climbed down a level, then ran over to the next ladder and took it up two levels. "The layout of this place makes little sense," Levia remarked.

"Indeed," Nue said. "Okay, let's go."

They ran across a bridge to Hook's platform, very close to the other side. As they arrived on the platform, Hook grabbed one of the huts with its tail. It shook the hut, and several of the spherical objects flew out of it, landing on the platform. "More of these," Nue said, "and that hut couldn't hold this many of them. Is it using that hut to make them or something?"

"Nue," Yuugi said, "blow up that tank! Levia and I will handle these!"

Yuugi kicked one of the spheres off the platform, then grabbed one and threw it into another. Levia wrapped one with her whip and swung it around, knocking several others flying. One of these happened to fly at Yuugi, who met it with a kick, sending it into another.

Nue took aim and fired a beam from her trident, landing a direct hit on the hut. It didn't penetrate, though, so Nue kept it up until the hut exploded. "Wasn't expecting the blast."

Yuugi took out the last of the spheres. "Who cares? Let's hit the thing. Levia, throw me at the tail! I need help to get at it without getting hit by the tengu-types!"

Levia took hold of Yuugi and threw her. Yuugi grabbed the tail by one of the fingers as she hurtled by, spun Hook over her head, and slamming it into the cliff wall. She spun around and hit the wall feet-first, kicking off of it and landing back on the platform.

Hook recovered quickly. It scurried along the wall at a surprisingly high speed before stopping. It was straddling what appeared to be a three-level scaffolding construction, complete with scattered piles of wood. It stretched sideways for a distance, before turning into a vertical stack that reached up to a higher level, ending by a bridge leading across with another platform in the middle. "Looks like they're expanding the village," Nue remarked. "Okay, here's the plan. Yuugi, into the scaffolding. Drive it up to that platform. Levia, you and I are going to circle around, get up there, wait for it, and hit it hard."

"Got it," Yuugi said. She ran across the bridge, into the scaffolding, and found that several more of the spherical objects were scattered throughout all three levels. "Guess there are still some of these left." Yuugi ran straight ahead, punching the one in front of her back into the next before either could train their fire on her. She ignored the ones on the levels above her and simply ran across, shoving aside the pile of wood in front of her. Another sphere lay beyond, and its fire was already directed at Yuugi. Yuugi just ran through the fire, grabbed the sphere, and threw it into Hook's face. Hook backed up a bit, revealing more spheres. "Okay, then," Yuugi said, "we'll just do it again."

* * *

><p>Nue and Levia took their positions on the platform. "It is fortunate that you are here," Levia said. "I do not believe that I could effectively navigate this place on my own."<p>

"I don't actually know the layout of the entire place," Nue said, "but I saw the ladder leading up to this level. It was quite simple, really, especially for this place."

The pair waited, and they didn't have to wait long. Yuugi drove Hook back across the scaffolding, then pursued it upwards until it leapt from the wall, landing on the platform. And when it landed, Nue and Levia struck immediately. Nue dove underneath the creature's head and struck at the sack-like thing hanging from its neck with her trident, while Levia simply punched it in the face. Then Yuugi ran in and punched it in the face herself.

Hook leapt back to the edge of the platform. It raised its head and spat several of the spheres onto the platform. "Oh, come on," Yuugi said, "more of these things?"

Nue formed more green UFOs. "I'll take care of them. You two just beat the shit out of that thing."

"I like that plan." Yuugi charged, Levia beside her. Hook lunged forward, and they broke their charge to dodge. Nue, who still had her UFOs out, didn't react as quickly, and though she did evade the charge, Hook proceeded to swat her, the blow breaking her focus, causing her UFOs to unform, and sending her flying off the platform..

Nue quickly stopped her fall. Plummeting to the ground below wasn't too much of a worry for someone who could fly, but in this case, the tengu-types would make things irritating. She wouldn't be able to hit land before they'd hit her with the slowdown field, so she'd have to take them out before she could effectively move around in the air and get to somewhere she could land. And they were annoyingly hard to hit. She'd have an easier time than most, thanks to her UFOs, but she'd still be out of the main fight for a while, and- _wait, why the hell haven't I been slowed yet?_ She took a look above herself. _Where the hell'd they go?_

Nue quickly returned to the platform and landed. "Don't rely on this," she said, "but the tengu-types seem to be gone at the moment."

Hook slammed its leg onto the platform, forming a shockwave which the trio leapt over. "They don't just leave in the middle of a battle like that," Yuugi said. "Someone else must've drawn them off. You think Hina woke up?"

Levia tossed the last remaining sphere into Hook's head. "It is not likely. I would think she will be unconscious for a while longer."

"Then who-"

Something slammed into Hook from above, hitting it into the platform hard enough to knock pieces off of the platform. It leapt down onto the platform in front of the trio, dispersing its barrier of leaves to reveal the figure of a woman. Hook spewed out a spread of shots, only for the woman to call up a storm of leaves and rip through it. Hook took a swing at her, which she leapt over, following up by slamming Hook's head into the platform again.

Yuugi didn't waste a moment. "Levia, with me!"

Yuugi and Levia leapt into the air and grabbed the creature's tail. "Flip it and slam it," Yuugi said. "Hey! You two might want to move!"

As Nue and the newcomer flew away, Yuugi and Levia spun Hook over their heads and, with all of their strength, threw it into the platform with enough force to send Hook through the platform, destroying it and leaving Hook impaled on the pole that had supported it.

* * *

><p>"So," Keine said, "how long are you planning to stay?"<p>

"As I said yesterday," Tenshi replied, "I intend to stay for as long as I can. Things are getting crazy up there, and it's getting harder and harder to get away, even though they don't really need me for anything. Everyone insists on involving me in everything. You'd think they'd realize I never contribute anything, but they don't. People keep trying to push me into an actual leadership position, which I have no desire to take. I'm not interested in participating in running the place."

"Yes, that wouldn't suit you at all. What's going on up there, anyways?"

Keine had just finished the day's lessons at the schoolhouse, and Tenshi had been there waiting for her. They were walking through the village to Keine's home.

"The increased Shade activity has everyone panicked," Tenshi said. "I've told you how close things were when the Shades first appeared, and even though we have a lot more capable fighters now than just myself and Iku, people are still worried that we'll be hit with something we can't handle. Ironically enough, the fact that the Shades haven't appeared in anywhere close to threatening numbers since then probably adds to this; if there had been a real threat, people would've seen just how much better prepared we are now."

"That would likely help," Keine said. "We're in far more danger than you are up in heaven, but the result of that is that we've faced that danger more, and proven that we can handle it. Most of the villagers are more worried about themselves or their families, especially those who go out into the fields, beyond the relative safety the village offers."

"And they're humans, too," Tenshi said. "That alone puts them in greater danger. They may be more used to danger, but they're weaker than us Celestials or other youkai."

"A truth," Keine said. "We've been fortunate to have Byakuren and Nue. Mamizou, too; she may not be very effective against Shades, but she can certainly take charge of the people if needed, freeing me up to fight. We do have fighters here, of course, but they simply can't perform as well as myself, Byakuren, or Nue. Even Mamizou can outdo most of them."

"But you've managed."

"We've managed. I'm worried about what's happening to Byakuren, though. Losing her alone would be bad enough, but if it leaves just myself and Nue as capable fighters, the village suddenly becomes a lot more vulnerable."

"She's immortal, though, isn't she?"

Keine nodded. "Due to the essence of fairies, according to her. But this is something different, something unlike any other cause of death Gensokyo's ever seen. I don't know what will happen. Um, have any Celestials fallen to the Black Scrawl?"

"Just one," Tenshi said. "We've had a total of two cases. One was a few years ago, and she did, of course, die. The other began last week. One of our leaders. He's not dead yet, but we all know he's going to be. That's one of the reasons heaven's in an uproar. But we'll survive. We already have a successor ready."

"That's good," Keine said. She paused for a moment, then sighed. "This has gone on for too long, to desensitize me to such things so much."

"It's bad, all right," Tenshi said. "Most Celestials don't realize how good we have it. We're relatively safe up there. Until our first Scrawl victim, we hadn't lost anyone since that first attack. And she's our only loss since then, at least until the current victim dies. You've had it much worse."

"We have," Keine said. "But we've managed. We manage."

"That you do."

* * *

><p>Yuugi and Levia joined the other two on the nearest intact platform, watching as the creature thrashed for a time before falling motionless. And then, just like Shades, it vanished.<p>

"I had not the knowledge that others were here," the newcomer said. "Perhaps my presence here was not necessary."

"Indeed," Levia said. "It seems quite clear that our efforts would have been more than sufficient on their own."

"Still, it was better for me to come, as I knew not that you would be here. I would much rather come where not needed than fail to come where I am needed. Anyways, allow me to introduce myself. I am Shizuha Aki. I remember you, Yuugi the Strong, from before the oni relocated to the underground, but your companions I have not met."

"Yeah, I think I remember you, too," Yuugi said. "The harvest goddess' sister, right?" Shizuha nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Anyways, this is Nue Houjuu, and this is Levia."

"Greetings," Shizuha said.

"Nice to meet you," Nue said. "Um, I kind of need to go look for something."

"Oh? What would you be searching for?"

"A small, black object," Nue said. "If it's here, I'd assume that… thing would have had it, so it'll have fallen way down there to the bottom after that thing died." Nue produced the tablet. "They're connected to this. There are a total of eight spaces, though as you can see, not all eight are empty."

"Yes," Shizuha said. "It would seem that you already have two of these objects."

Nue nodded. "One was in this when we found it, and Yuugi has another at… her… home… that we never went to go get." She looked at the tablet, and there were indeed two of the black objects within it. "Huh. That's interesting."

"I would postulate that it was drawn to the tablet upon the creature's death," Shizuha said. "I can sense a sort of… attraction between them. It is weak enough that I would not be surprised if it could not take effect while the object was still in that creature's possession, but once the creature died, the object could most certainly be drawn to the tablet on its own."

"Even though the tablet was in the nether?"

"Such objects are still physically present. A nether-state would not affect something like this."

"I require an explanation," Levia said. "What is this 'nether' you speak of?"

"I don't know if anyone actually understands it," Nue said. "I guess Mira'd be the most likely to, but I don't know for sure. Don't need to understand how it works to use it, though. It's some sort of combination of physical being and physical non-being, combined with a magical connection to the one who placed it in the nether."

"It's what happens to your whip when you're not using it," Yuugi said. "It goes into the nether."

"I see," Levia said.

"Very few objects can be placed in the nether," Nue said. "They have to be magical in nature. Obviously, your whip qualifies, and my own weapon was imbued with magic upon its creation, so it also qualifies. Most of the stronger youkai have magically-imbued weapons; even if we don't forge them ourselves, we do tend to infuse them with our own power during their forging, simply so they work better for us. And those who don't usually have someone else do it for them, so the weapons at least have enhanced durability and can be stored in the nether. Anyways, only magic or heavily magic-imbued items can be stored in the nether, and most items aren't magic enough to be stored that way. It's great for stuff you can use it for, though. This tablet and the objects are magic enough that it works with them."

"I see," Levia said again.

"Well," Shizuha said, "it would seem that the situation here is under control. What business brings you to the mountain, exactly? Was it to find that object?"

"Yes," Nue said.

"Then will you now be departing?"

"Actually, I've been thinking of going by Nitori's shop."

"Nitori?" Yuugi said. "That kappa engineer?"

Nue nodded. "She's less engineer and more blacksmith these days. I thought we should maybe get you a weapon."

"I appreciate the thought," Yuugi said," but that's not my style." She thought for a moment. "Unless maybe she makes me a set of gauntlets. Maybe some greaves, too."

"That's what I was thinking."

"In that case, yes, let's go pay her a visit."

"Do you know the way?" Shizuha asked.

"I've been there before," Nue said. "Thanks for the offer, but it's unnecessary."

"Very well, then," Shizuha said. "Perhaps we will meet again at some point, but until then, farewell."

Shizuha left, and Nue turned to her two companions. "Right. Let's go retrieve Hina and get out of here."

* * *

><p><strong>Guess which scene was inspired by <em>The Avengers<em>. Go on, guess.**

**Right, so this chapter had the battle with Hook. In _NieR_, you actually fight it twice (once in the clearing and again later on in the village), but I combined the two into a single fight; I don't really have any reason to have Nue and co. fight it twice.**

**I guess I don't really have too much to say about this chapter. So let me just say 'thank you' to everyone who's given a review so far. Every review is appreciated, and I encourage all of my readers to give reviews. So to those who have, thank you, and to everyone, I encourage you to leave them.**


	6. Chapter 6: Relics of the Old World

**Chapter 6  
><strong>_Relics of the Old World_

"This is the place," Nue said.

'The place' looked like the beginnings of some sort of construction. Fences were up, and various materials were scattered around. Only two structures stood. One was a house, a fairly small one. An additional room, with a separate door, was attached. The other structure was much smaller, and the door was unusual. It was clearly made of metal, was recessed a ways into the wall, and seemed to be split down the middle. There was no handle or other obvious means of opening it, though there was a small panel next to it with a button and a small slot.

"Doesn't look like much," Yuugi said.

"It isn't much. Nitori and her sister don't really think they need anything more."

"I didn't know she had a sister."

"Yeah, Mitori. Nobody really seems to know all that much about her. Apparently, Mitori was living on her own underground somewhere until a few years ago."

"Really? There was a kappa down there?"

"Apparently, although she supposedly lived somewhere off by herself, far away from everyone else who was down there."

"I see."

Nue approached the attached room. "This time of day, she's likely in the workshop." She knocked on the door. When there was no response, she knocked again, harder, but there was still no response. "Hey! Nitori!"

A startled cry and a _thump _were heard from inside. A few seconds later, a very dirty Nitori opened the door. "Oh! Customers!"

"We are," Nue said. "We were in the area, so I thought we might see about acquiring a little something for Yuugi, here."

"You're in the right place," Nitori said. "Please, come in."

* * *

><p><em>The tengu village wasn't the only one to be destroyed; the kappa lost their village, too. In fact, the kappa village was hit much harder. Like the tengu, the kappa initially tried to rebuild, but eventually decided that they would instead relocate. But they moved much farther, off the mountain completely. All the way to the desert, oddly enough. They built their new village around a large oasis. The kappa moved there, but not all of them. Like the tengu, some went elsewhere. One kappa, however, remained near the old village. That kappa, of course, was Nitori.<em>

_Before the Radiance, the kappa were constructing some sort of facility within the mountain, widely believed to be related to the underground center where the hell raven Utsuho had powered and run a so-called 'nuclear reactor'. It was a fairly expansive facility, whatever it was meant to be, and they did manage to finish the actual structure. Whatever it was originally meant for, though, that purpose was lost when the machines took over._

_The kappa had designed and built what they called a 'security system'. Apparently, they wanted the place to be very secure, and they built machines for that purpose. This security system was put into place during the initial construction of the structure, so it was completed well before the actual facility was ready for use. The machines were to protect and secure the facility while the kappa used it for… well, for whatever purpose it was intended. But then the Radiance happened._

_When the Radiance happened, construction of the facility was halted. The plan was eventually cancelled as everyone recovered from the event and adjusted to life in the changed world, and the facility was abandoned. Nobody went to it at all for a couple hundred years._

_It was practicality that finally led the kappa back there; they were in need of materials, and had decided to scavenge what they could from their abandoned facility. But when they went inside, they found that the machines had taken over. They were acting on their own; 'outside their programming', the kappa called it. Essentially, they were doing things they were never meant to do. Like mining the mountain for materials and making more of themselves. Or appearing to think._

_The machines attacked the kappa, driving them out. Then they launched a counter-attack on the kappa village. The kappa fought back and drove the machines off, only to find themselves facing a Shade attack immediately afterwards, this being the attack that destroyed the village._

_In need of materials to rebuild the village, the kappa attacked the facility. They destroyed most of the rouge machines, and as much of their 'self-replication' equipment as they could find. Then they pulled out, taking as much material with them as they could._

_Not all of the machines' equipment was destroyed. The machines replaced their losses, but did nothing else. And when kappa teams went in again to scavenge more material, they found that the machines were acting far less intelligently than before. They concluded that in their attack, they'd taken out the 'hub'-the brain of their security system, basically. They said that whatever caused their robots to act against their programming was located in that hub. Destroying it reduced everything connected, including the robots, to a more basic level of functionality._

_The kappa, as I previously mentioned, eventually abandoned their ruined village, but people still occasionally entered the facility, which had become known as the 'Junk Heap', to scavenge for metals and other materials. Nitori, who stayed behind, relocated her home to just outside the Junk Heap, and is the one who enters it the most frequently, gathering the materials found within._

* * *

><p>"So, Yuugi" Nitori said, "you want something that can add a little something extra to your hits."<p>

"Yeah," Yuugi said, setting the still-unconscious Hina down. "We were thinking a set of gauntlets."

"No problem," Nitori said. "I'll need the right materials, though. Not just anything will hold up to use by an oni."

"My trident's held up just fine for thousands of years," Nue said, "and I don't think it's made of anything special. It hasn't even needed any repair. Sure, I'm no oni, but still, that's pretty good. Won't infusing it with magic during forging be enough?"

"In most cases, yes," Nitori said. "Magic infusion is enough with most weapons-swords, spears, axes, maces, whatever-even if it's an oni using the weapon. But gauntlets are different. You're not holding them like you do with most weapons; they fit over your hands and feet. They can't be completely rigid like swords or other such weapons. They're more than just variously-shaped hunks of metal; they have to be flexible. You don't want hand motion to be restricted. Far harder to make than a shaped hunk of metal like a sword, and far harder to make hold up to the same force. So I'll need something harder to start with."

"Do you have anything like that?"

"Depends. Don't know what Mitori brought up today. Let me check." Nitori opened the door between the workshop and the house. "Hey, Mitori!" She paused. "Mitori!" Another pause. "Mitori?" One more pause. "Huh. That's odd."

"You said 'brought up'," Nue said. "Has she been in the Junk Heap?"

"All the time. She does most of the work getting materials. She's not as good at working with them, but she's far better in combat than I am. She gets the stuff, I work with it. Normally, she's back up well before now. Hold on for a moment." Nitori ran into the house for a minute, then returned. "Yeah, she's not here. That's a little worrying."

"How dangerous is the Junk Heap?"

"Not too bad. Robots are predictable. Once you know their patterns, it's easy to beat them. The only real danger they pose is in numbers. There are a lot of them, and new ones are made to replace any that are destroyed. Never more than replacements, though; since we took out the A.I. core, they aren't able to act beyond their base programming. Base programming that's a hell of a lot different than what we gave them, but it's pretty easy to figure out what it contains just through observing their actions."

"Right," Nue said. _Whatever 'programming' is._ "So, basically, you're saying that they don't really think. I think that's what you're saying, at least."

Nitori nodded. "That's right. So, yeah, they're fairly easy to deal with, but they do have the advantage of numbers, and since they replace losses, we can't just clean the place out. Unless we exhaust their materials, but they seem to keep getting more. Nobody's been able to figure out where they're getting the materials. They don't leave the Junk Heap, and there are no signs that they're mining this mountain. And this mountain doesn't have all the stuff they use, anyways. But yeah, you have to fight a lot of them if you go in, and I'm not so good at that. I can do alright, but Mitori is much better at combat. She'll be deeper in than I can get."

"I see. So, it's been Mitori's job to go in there."

"Yeah."

"And she's not back yet."

"That's right."

"And she should be."

"Yes."

"And you can't go in far enough to look for her."

"Correct."

"You're going to ask us to go look for her, aren't you?"

"Um… yes," Nitori said. "I'd go myself, but I can never get very far."

"Are there any Shades in there?" Yuugi asked.

"Shades? Uh, no. Why?"

"Because I've made it my business to kill them."

"Oh. Well, no, none in there that I know of. But…"

"'But'?"

"Well, some of the robots, especially the turrets, can shoot out Shade-style magic shots. I don't know how. Magic of any kind, even just danmaku, should be impossible for robots to use, but these use it."

"Interesting," Yuugi said. "Perhaps the Radiance had something to do with whatever's going on with your 'robots', then."

"It's possible. We abandoned the place when the Radiance happened, so yes, even though we didn't know about anything for another two centuries, it could most certainly have started then."

Yuugi looked over at Nue. "Think it's worth checking out?"

"Do you?" Nue said.

"Well… no, not really. I hunt Shades, and even if they use the same 'magic', the robots probably aren't Shades."

"They aren't," Nitori said. "They're robots. Metal and all that. Most of the material Mitori brings out is from robots she destroyed."

"So I can't say that I'm all that interested in the Junk Heap. But what about you?"

"Well," Nue said, "if the pieces I'm after are held only by Shades, there wouldn't be one in there, unless… Nitori, were there ever Shades in there at any point?"

"Not that I know of," Nitori said, "but the kappa don't exactly run the place anymore. And we didn't pay attention to it at all for those first two hundred years. Shades could have easily gone in at some point."

"Still probably not a likely spot to find one of the pieces, although I'd look there if we exhausted all the more likely places. But it's not just about Shades, Yuugi."

"You thinkin' rescue mission?" Yuugi said.

"Or a missing person search, at the very least. And hunting shades isn't all I do. Besides, I don't know that I want to just ignore this, And if I did just walk away, Byakuren would never shut up about it. So I think I'm going to go in. That said, though," she turned back to Nitori, "I don't work for free."

"Oh, I understand," Nitori said. "Most people I wouldn't expect to do it at all, but you've got a reputation for doing all kinds of jobs, so I thought I'd ask you about it. How's this: you come out of there with my sister, and I don't charge you for the gauntlets."

Nue thought for a moment. "Fair. You'll still need the materials, though, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if I see some while I'm in there, no reason not to grab it. What do you need?"

"Mythril would be the best," Nitori said.

"'Mythril'? I don't think I've heard of that."

"It was Sanae Kochiya who first identified it, back before the Radiance," Nitori said, "and she was the one who named it. Apparently, it's common in fantasy stories from the outside world-or was when Sanae came to Gensokyo, at least."

"I suppose it makes sense that it would turn up in Gensokyo, then," Nue said.

"Yeah. Pretty rare, but very useful. Strong, lightweight, basically the ideal material. Don't know if there's any in there, though. We used some in the construction of the main hub of the security system-and nothing else, because it's rare enough that that's all of it we had-but that's what became the A.I. core, and that was taken out. We couldn't find the mythril, though, so it may still be in there somewhere, but none of it has ever been found, so don't count on coming across it."

"We'll likely have to settle for something else, then," Nue said.

"Yeah. Look for what we call 'memory alloy'. Only some of the tougher robots have any, though, so you'll have to go in a ways. Although you'll probably go in deep enough while looking for Mitori. You'll know the robots if you see any; they're the large, humanoid ones."

"Got it," Nue said. She turned to her companions. "Are you two coming in with me?"

"Sure," Yuugi said. "Never beaten up machines before. Should be interesting."

"I shall accompany you as well," Levia said."

"All right, then." Nue turned back to Nitori. "Can you look after HIna while we're in there?"

"Sure," Nitori said.

"Thanks. Anything else we should know?"

Nitori handed Nue a card and a small stack of papers. "You'll need that card to use the elevators. That small thing outside is one of them. You'll need to use them to get between floors. And this is a map of the facility, separated by floor. The last couple pages may not be completely accurate, though; nobody's been all the way in since our initial attack on the place, so there may be some changes. Unlikely, but possible."

"We'll keep that in mind. All right, then. Yuugi, Levia, let's head in."

* * *

><p>"Ah, visitors. It looks like I've kept you waiting. I apologize for this."<p>

Mokou and Kaguya stood and faced the shrine, from which a woman was emerging. _I guess it makes sense she can just appear in her shrine whenever she wants,_ Mokou thought. "It's not a problem."

"You are the forest immortals, yes? Mokou and Kaguya, I believe."

"Indeed," Kaguya said. "Greetings, Kanako."

"It's been some time since either of you was last seen," Kanako said. "What brings you to me?"

"I'm sure you remember the hell raven Utsuho," Mokou said. "After all, you're the one responsible for her obtaining her power."

"That's right. There've been sightings of her above-ground recently, I've heard. I've been meaning to look into it, but lately, the Shades have been keeping both myself and Suwako busy."

"My understanding is that Shade activity has been on the rise for the past month," Kaguya said.

"Yes, that's right."

"They attacked the underground about a month ago," Mokou said. "The oni city was destroyed, and most of the oni died."

"Yes. At least some made it out, though, and they seem to be doing all right."

"Doesn't make what happened to them any better."

"No," Kanako said, "it doesn't."

"Utsuho started behaving oddly right after that attack," Mokou said. "She's gone somewhat crazy."

"Like before? When she first gained her power?"

"No," Mokou said. "Different."

"And it's my fault," Kaguya said, "at least to some extent."

"Please," Kanako said, "elaborate."

* * *

><p><em>Mitori Kawashiro has an… interesting ability. She has the ability to 'forbid' things, to prevent them from happening.<em>

_This ability has its limits, of course. The first one is fairly obvious, and that is that she has to know about what she's forbidding. She has to be aware of the possibility she is forbidding. If, for example, she wanted to forbid herself sustaining a leg injury, she would have to know that sustaining such an injury was a possibility._

_Another limitation is scale. The larger an event's scale, the harder it is for her to forbid it. Anything that would affect more than a fairly small number of people or a fairly small area is simply too hard for her to forbid._

_In addition to those limitations, Mitori's ability only takes effect once per use. If, for instance, she were to forbid herself sustaining a leg injury, this would take effect the next time she would have sustained one, preventing it, but would then expire, and Mitori would have to forbit it again to continue having protection. So, yes, she could forbid herself taking a hit, but she would need to reapply the effect after every time she otherwise would have been hit. Which can be tricky in the middle of battle, and can wear her out over a longer fight._

_The other significant limitation is that she has to maintain the effect. She can't simply apply it and forget about it; each forbidden event requires effort to maintain. A very small amount, usually, but it is still there._

_Don't mistake these limitations as meaning that Mitori's ability isn't potent, because it is, very much so. It's one of the most useful abilities I know of, despite its limits. But even the most potent of abilities has limits, as I have seen proven time and again, perhaps most notably by Yukari's death. No matter what the ability, nobody is without limits, and anyone-expect immortals-can die._

* * *

><p>Nue inserted the card into the slot on the elevator panel. It didn't go in all the way, but the button lit up anyways. "Well, maybe it's built that way. Makes it easy to pull it back out, I guess." She hit the button, and a faint noise could be heard. It briefly got louder, after which there was a 'ding' sound and the two halves of the door slid away from each other, revealing a small chamber. "Guess we go in."<p>

When all three of them were inside, the door closed. "Now what?" Yuugi asked.

Nue indicated a panel beside the door. The panel had two buttons on it, one labeled 'S' and the other '1'. The button labeled 'S' was lit. "Let's press the lit one," she said. But when she did so, all that happened was that the door opened. "That didn't work. Let's try the other one." She pressed the '1' button, and the doors closed. Then they felt the chamber start to descend. "Yeah, I think that worked."

Before long, there was another 'ding', and then the door opened, revealing a corridor. "I think this is it," Nue said as the three of them exited the elevator. "Welcome to the Junk Heap, I guess." She took out the map and examined it. "An odd layout. Looks like this floor has just one path for a while, but it's got a lot of turns. And several rooms along the way."

"Right," Yuugi said. "Let's go."

The trio moved through the corridor into the first room. Waiting the room were five… machines. "These must be some of the robots," Yuugi said.

The machines came to about two-thirds of Nue's height. They were blocky-looking things. They had no legs or wheels, instead rolling on treads, which only added to the blocky look. There was a rectangular object, presumably meant as an arm, on either side of the main body, each of which ended in not a hand, but a pair of metal prongs. Each robot had two yellow lights on top of it.

"Odd-looking things," Nue said. "Let's see what they can do."

"Me first," Yuugi said. She charged the robots, delivering a punch to one that sent it into the wall. She brought her fist down on top of a second robot, caving its body in. A third robot aimed the prongs on its arms at Yuugi and closed in. Yuugi moved to attack, but when she got to just a couple feet away, electricity shot out from the prongs, zapping her and knocking her back into the caved-in robot, which was now fiercely smoking and shorting out. Then it exploded, throwing Yuugi forward and into the third robot's electricity again, which once more knocked her back.

Nue fired a beam from her trident and swept it across the room, blasting away the remaining three robots, all of which exploded a couple seconds later. "They seem to go down easily," she said. "You okay, Yuugi?"

Yuugi was already on her feet. "You kidding me? That was nothing. I'm tougher than that."

"That is certainly accurate," Levia said. "Even so, however, perhaps it would be best if you held back and allowed Nue and I to deal with the robots, as she and I can strike from beyond their apparent range."

"Yeah, not happening. I just won't run at the ones with lightning coming out of their arms."

"And back off once you've hit them," Nue said. "It looks like they explode when destroyed."

"I can handle that. Come on, let's go."

The trio entered the next corridor and made their way into the next room. There were a few more robots in it, which Nue quickly blasted. Then four panels on the ground, one in each corner of the room, slid open, and four cylindrical objects rose from the floor, a tube extending from each. The four objects began firing magic shots from the tubes while rotating back and forth, sweeping their shots across the room.

As Nue formed rainbow UFOs to counter the shots, Levia leapt on top of the nearest of the objects. She punched a hole in the top of it, then thrust her hand in and swept through the interior with blasts of water. The object visibly and violently shorted out, sinking back into the floor amidst shorts and explosions as Levia jumped to the ground, and the panel slid shut. Levia fired streams of water at the remaining three objects, aiming for the tubes. This didn't work quite as well; the shorts were less violent, and the objects continued firing, though at a slower pace.

Yuugi ran up to the nearest of the three objects and ripped its tube off. This didn't stop its fire but did hinder its aim, as the shots began firing out wildly without the tube to direct them. Ripping out the tube also left a hole in the object, which Levia fired another stream of water into. That one worked much better; the turret shorted out, and amidst explosions, sunk back into the floor. Yuugi and Levia repeated the process with the remaining two objects, taking them out.

"Well," Nue said as she dismissed her UFOs, "I guess those were probably the 'turrets' Nitori mentioned."

"They shot magic a lot, yeah," Yuugi said. "Still pretty easy to take out, though."

"They did not seem capable of directing their aim vertically," Levia said. "This could well be used to our advantage to enable a safe approach to any others we encounter."

"Or I could just clear the shots out like I did this time," Nue said. "Or next time I can just blast the turrets themselves."

"Yeah, but that's no fun for me," Yuugi said. "'Sides, I think the turrets are a little sturdier than those other robot things."

"Maybe, but I don't think they'll give us any trouble."

"Right," Yuugi said. She indicated the room's exits. "Well, let's move on. Which way?"

Nue took a few steps towards the two side-by-side paths onwards, then stopped, taking out the map. She looked at the map, then looked up at the paths, then back at the map, then at the paths, then at the map, then at the paths, then at the map again. "Well, great."

Yuugi came up beside her and took a look at the map over Nue's shoulder. "What's up?"

Nue pointed at a room on the map. "We're here. The elevator was here, meaning we entered the room from this direction, through this path. Which means we should exit this way. But the map shows only one other path."

"And this room has two."

"Yeah. Nitori said the map might not be accurate further in, but she seemed to think it was accurate near the entrance."

"Huh. You sure you're looking at the right page?"

"This is the first page," Nue said, "and we're on the first floor."

"So why's there a two on the page?"

"Huh?"

Yuugi pointed at the number on the lower-right corner of the page. "The page has a '2' on it."

"I didn't notice that," Nue said. She flipped to the next page. "And this page has a '1' in the same place. And an elevator labeled 'entrance'. And if we trace the path from it, the second room has two paths forward. I think this is the correct page. But why was the second page first?" She flipped to the next page.

"That one's labeled 'B1'," Yuugi said.

"These aren't page numbers, then," Nue said. "They're floor numbers. Second floor, first floor, then I'd guess first basement floor, then second basement floor, and so on."

"An odd numbering scheme," Levia said. "The switch to 'basement' labels seems completely arbitrary. If the other floors were above the ground, it would make sense, but this entire facility is within the mountain."

"They probably just called the first floor they built the first," Yuugi said, "and went from there, building only one floor above it but multiple below it."

"The right path here has an elevator," Nue said, looking at the correct map page this time. "It says the elevator goes up to the second floor. There's another elevator further on, down the left path, that goes further down. Not sure why they couldn't have one elevator reach multiple floors, though."

"Who knows?" Yuugi said. "Let's not worry about the mysteries of kappa architectural design, and just keep moving."

"Right," Nue said. "Let's take the right path first. The second floor only has the one elevator, so it'll be a dead end. We'll search it first before heading further down. It sounded like Nitori didn't think Mitori'd be up here, but we should search the entire place anyways. I don't want to end up missing her because we weren't thorough enough early on."

"Works for me," Yuugi said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"I may be the one who gave Utsuho her power," Kanako said as she led Mokou and Kaguya into the shrine, "but it's not something I've ever had any sort of control over. It was the Yatagarasu's power she gained; I merely presented the dead god's body for her consumption."<p>

Mokou and Kaguya found seats. "I know," Mokou said, "but you know more about it than anyone else."

"I don't know that I would say that. You, Mokou, have spent the last five hundred years with her. You probably know more about it than I do."

"About what she can do with it, yes, but when it comes to how it works? She's tried to explain it to me, but I simply couldn't understand it. I'm not sure what 'nuclear physics' is, but I know it's confusing as hell."

"When you get that advanced into a topic, you'll find very few people who understand it," Kanako said. "I don't understand it, myself. I can at least enlighten you as to the nature of her power, though. It is, after all, divine in origin."

"Then please," Kaguya said, "enlighten us."

"A god's strength comes from faith," Kanako said. "The more faith we have, the stronger we are. Too little faith, and life fades from us."

"You die."

"Yes. Many gods met such ends in the outside world."

"They didn't move to Gensokyo like you did?"

"It's no easy thing for a god to relocate to a separate realm. We are connected to our lands. I moved my shrine to Gensokyo with me not just because I wanted to. Had I not brought it with me, I would have faded quickly."

"I see. Surely other gods could have done the same, though."

"Suwako and I barely managed it working together. By the time most gods realized they could not gather enough faith to sustain themselves in the outside world, they didn't have the power to bring their lands through the barrier. And many others chose not to leave their followers, even when those followers were too few in number to provide enough faith."

"There are other gods here," Mokou said. "Are they ones who resided in Gensokyo before its separation?"

"Yes," Kanako said. "Gensokyo was chosen to be the land of magic because it already bore an unusually large concentration of magic and related beings. It was already a land of youkai and magic. There were always a number of gods who dwelled here."

"That makes sense."

"Many gods met their deaths from a lack of faith. The Yatagarasu, the god Utsuho consumed, met its end in a different, though related, manner. The Yatagarasu is the only god who has ever committed suicide."

There was silence for a while. Eventually, Mokou spoke. "Suicide. A god killed itself?"

"Yatagarasu did not desire to live having abandoned its followers; it, like many gods, considered such a thing to be far worse than death. I, on the other hand, see it the other way around, that it is they who abandoned us. Humans chose to move away from magic, away from the supernatural. I see no reason to show loyalty to such people."

"I think you're letting your personal views slip in to your explanation," Kaguya said.

"Perhaps I did, but it was important to state Yatagarasu's feelings on the matter, as they are why it committed suicide. Abandoning its followers, in its mind, was far worse than dying, so it would not relocate to Gensokyo. But it knew our kind could not survive in the outside world, knew before the rest of us did. Knew before Gensokyo's separation, a time at which the rest of us thought that gods still had a place in the world of humans.

"The Yatagarasu did not want to abandon its followers, but neither did it want to end its days as a fading god. It didn't want to 'harm its legacy' by having its followers see its decay. So it chose to end its own life. Normally, this is impossible for a god, but as I said, we cannot be separate from our lands."

"It came to Gensokyo when the separation was done," Mokou said, "didn't it? It knew that if it was in a separate realm, it would die."

"Yes," Kanako said. "It chose the old Hell of Blazing Fires as its place of death, and it laid there until I fed it to Utsuho."

"A history lesson, then," Mokou said. "I thought you were going to talk about Utsuho's power."

"Utsuho's power is the Yatagarasu's power," Kanako said. "Even in death, a god's power remains. By consuming its corpse, Utsuho also consumed its power, and so gained it for herself. But she is not a god. She has a god's power, but she is not limited by faith. A god's power is greater than any other, but we are limited by faith. If not for that, our only limits would be ourselves and our power, just as it is for all others. But the power of a god, unrestricted by faith, is far greater than any other in Gensokyo. Utsuho's limits are far, far beyond yours."

"I can't die," Mokou said. "Unless she can keep going forever, I'll win eventually."

"She can't keep going forever without rest, no," Kanako said, "but neither can you. Even though you are immortal, you have your limits. You can push yourself only so far before you can go no further. Eventually, you will wear yourself out and be unable to continue fighting. Is that not how many of your battles with Kaguya end?"

"It is," Kaguya said. "We would indeed often keep going until one of us couldn't go on any longer. Of course, we do get closer to that point each time we're killed, so whoever died more usually wore out first. We can't die, but killing us will wear us out faster."

"Utsuho, too, can be worn out," Kanako said, "but as I said, she has the power of a god without the limits of faith. Even the strongest in Gensokyo would wear out completely well before she would."

"Don't underestimate us," Kaguya said. "Sure, maybe our power isn't on the same level of hers, but Mokou and I are the most skilled fighters in Gensokyo. Our bodies and powers have been trained far beyond what anyone else in Gensokyo has done. Thirteen hundred years of constant battle has that effect. Both of us have progressed far beyond our initial limits. Those battles we'd have that only ended when one of us was completely worn out? Those often lasted the entire day. It's not exactly easy to wear us out."

"True," Kanako said. "You do have that going for you. And yet you said that Utsuho defeated you quite easily in your battle yesterday. Can you tell me why that is?"

"It's…"

"I didn't witness that battle," Kanako said, "so let me ask you this: did you fight to the best of your abilities?"

After a moment of silence, Mokou spoke. "I didn't. I took the same approach I do for most fights: charge in and take the enemy down. Even if I were against someone of equal power, I could fight like that because of my immortality The only opponent I've ever truly had to fight well against is Kaguya. Immortality doesn't give you an advantage when your opponent is also immortal."

"I didn't fight very skillfully, either," Kaguya said.

"Change that next time," Kanako said. "If the two of you fight as well as you can, you may have a chance."

* * *

><p>The second floor had nothing of note, just a few robots. It took little time to sweep the floor, after which Nue, Yuugi, and Levia returned to the first floor and continued on. Eventually, they came to a room with three ways onward. "Which way?" Yuugi asked.<p>

"The right path leads to the elevator down," Nue said, looking at the map. "The other two just lead to rooms. We'll check the left one first, then the center one, then head down to the next floor."

They went left, finding nothing but robots in the room. One of the robots was different, though. Its 'arms' were different, and the lights on it were red instead of yellow. While the yellow robots advanced towards the trio as usual, the red one stayed back, and instead of the electricity that the yellows used, it began firing magic shots.

Nue fired a beam from her trident, sweeping it across the room to take out all the robots. "Huh. I guess they do have more than the turrets and the yellow-light things."

"They're still weak," Yuugi said.

"It's supposed to get more dangerous further in, remember? We may run into tougher ones on the lower floors."

The trio left the room and checked the one remaining room on the floor, finding nothing but another group of robots. So they proceeded to the elevator and took it down to the first basement level. "What's this floor look like?" Yuugi said.

Nue flipped over to the 'B1F' map. "Fairly twisty," she said, "but there aren't a lot of side paths. It's mostly a single path all the way to the elevator down."

"Makes searching easier. Let's get moving."

* * *

><p>"They've been gone a while, haven't they?" Tenshi said. She and Keine had arrived at Keine's home, and were sitting on the porch.<p>

"Yes," Keine said. "I wasn't expecting them to be gone for so long. They must have found something."

"They can handle it," Tenshi said.

"Most likely, yes."

"They're looking for Shades, right? To get the rest of those black things?"

Keine nodded. "Nue believes they hold the key to curing the Black Scrawl."

"Let's hope she's right. Gensokyo has enough problems; we hardly need some crazy disease to deal with on top of all that."

"Agreed." Keine paused for a moment. "I suppose some good came of all this, though. Relations between humans and youkai are better than they've ever been."

"A common enemy'll do that," Tenshi said. "It takes a lot to settle millennia-old conflicts, but a mutual threat can do just that."

"Things would be peaceful now if the Shades were gone."

"Yeah, but at least there was some good in all this. You should know that better than anyone."

"True," Keine said. "I was so used to hiding what I am that I didn't realize how hard it was. A non-hostile relationship between humans and youkai is a benefit to everyone, but I'm one of those who have benefited more personally. In more ways than one."

"I guess you would have been kicked out for having a relationship with a youkai back then, huh?"

"Indeed I would have," Keine said. "I'm very glad that this is no longer the case."

"So am I," Tenshi said.

* * *

><p>When this room's two turrets were destroyed and sank back into the floor, they each left a small, spherical object behind. "What the hell are these things?" Yuugi said.<p>

"No idea," Nue said. "I haven't seen anything like them before."

"They don't seem to move." Yuugi picked one up, and it began beeping. "Makes noise, though." She paused. "This is about to explode on me, isn't it?" She tossed it aside, and it did indeed explode. "Right. Why the hell did those two turrets leave bombs behind?"

"And why only these two? Although I suppose this place hasn't made any sense so far, so why should it start now?"

"True," Yuugi said. "Another thing to add to the 'doesn't make sense' list: why is the path forward blocked by a wooden fence?"

Nue walked up to the fence, which completely obstructed the corridor. "No idea. Doesn't seem like something that could keep much out."

"It might stop some humans."

"True, but they could probably use those bombs to get rid of it."

"If the fence is intact," Levia said, "then it seems unlikely that Mitori came through here."

Yuugi pointed back to where she'd picked up the bomb, where another was visible. "The bomb came back. Why can't a fence?"

"We shouldn't make assumptions," Nue said. She looked at the map. "We're on B2F now, and through here is the elevator down to B3F, which looks pretty… simple?"

"What?"

"There's no elevator further down on B3F," Nue said. "It doesn't have an elevator. But there's a B4F on the map." She turned to that page. "Let's see, it says its elevator is connected to… 1F?" She turned back to the 1F page. "None of the 1F elevators are marked as going to B4F. And I don't remember any of them having more than two options, either."

"Then how do we get to B4F?"

"We can go back and ask Nitori. But since we're already here, let's check B3F. It's just a room, then a big chamber, then another room, so it shouldn't take long."

"Right," Yuugi said. "I'll get the door." She walked up to the fence, tore it away, and tossed it aside. She and the others walked through, but when they glanced back, the fence was in place again. "Huh. I guess it really does come back."

"Then we'll remove it again on our way out," Nue said. "Let's go." She led the group into the elevator, and hit the button to go down once all three of them were aboard. The door soon opened, and they stepped out into B3F.

"The path forward here is also obstructed," Levia said, indicating the big metal door across the room from them. "Although someone appears to have found a way through already."

"Yeah." Yuugi approached the door, examining the hole torn in the bottom. "Too small for any of us."

"Mitori's fairly small," Nue said. "She could probably fit through there."

Yuugi tested the door's strength. "Seems too strong for a kappa to rip a hole in. Don't know what it's made of, but it'd be tough even for me to do this."

"I wonder if it's the 'memory alloy' Nitori mentioned. We haven't seen any humanoid robots, so let's grab some of this on the way out."

"I'll rip it off, then."

"Not if it'll take a while," Nue said, "not yet. I think I can get us through more quickly, and Mitori's probably past here. We'll get it on the way out. For now, I may be able to get us through more quickly." She walked up to the door and examined the hole more closely. "Mitori probably reacted in time to forbid this door from blocking her passage, with this as the result."

"How are you gonna get us through?"

"Like this," Nue said, and as she said it, she began to change. Her form became that of a large snake, which easily slipped through the hole. A few moments later, the door slid up, revealing Nue back in her normal form. "A door can always be opened; that's kind of the point of a door. I didn't see a way to open it on that side, which meant there had to be one on this side." She indicated a button on the wall. "And I was right."

"Ah," Yuugi said. She looked up, where the torn portion of the door had caused it to get stuck. "Doesn't look like it opened all the way, though."

"That is hardly significant," Levia said.

"True enough."

"Let's go, then." Nue led the way into the next room. The trio found themselves on a metal walkway above a large drop. In the middle of the circular room was a large, cylindrical object of some kind, which the walkway extended to the top of. There was another walkway on the other side, leading to another door. "That's… interesting."

"Okay," Yuugi said, "I've gotta say it: what the hell is this?"

"What purpose does a chamber such as this serve?" Levia said.

"I don't know," Nue said. "We can ask Nitori. Or Mitori, if we find her. I don't see her in here, though. Let's check the last room."

The group proceeded forward, but as soon as they stepped onto the circular 'platform' that was the top of the cylinder, a loud noise sounded. "That can't be good," Yuugi said.

As the noise continued, the door they'd passed through slammed back down. Then the walkways were drawn back from the platform. "Not sure what purpose that's supposed to serve," Nue said.

The loud noise ceased, and then an odd-sounding voice came from seemingly nowhere. **"Warning! Warning! Intruders in core chamber! Deploying Geppetto defense system!"**

"I think that means we're about to be attacked," Yuugi said.

"I hear its approach," Levia said.

"Get ready," Nue said.

The enemy quickly appeared, rising up from below and hovering just past the edge of the platform. "It's… a giant robot head," Yuugi said. "With hands just floating beside it. I'm gonna go with 'what the hell?'."

"It is an enemy," Levia said. "We fight."

Nue fired beams from the tips of her trident. The beams struck 'Geppetto' dead center, but didn't seem to do much. One of the hands made a fist and flew at her. She leapt over it, then had to make a quick dodge to the side as the second hand came from above and tried to smash her. As it hit the platform, Yuugi leapt onto it and began pounding it. Levia, meanwhile, slammed herself into the face, to no apparent effect.

The hand Yuugi was on rose into the air. Yuugi tried to slam it back into the ground, but couldn't move it at all. She leapt down to the platform, Levia landing beside her. "Whatever force moves it," Levia said, "seems unaffected by any force we can exert."

"So we can't hit or throw them into things," Yuugi said. "Not going to stop us."

The hands returned to their positions on either side of the face. They extended their index fingers and fired beams from them. They swept the beams across the platform, but the trio simply leapt over them to evade. After a few sweeps, the beams became more targeted. Rather than simply sweep across the platform, one targeted Nue and the other Levia. Both took to the air and easily evaded the attack.

Both fists flew at Nue, who dropped underneath them and down to the platform. The fists halted and retargeted, quickly speeding at Nue again. Nue dodged to the side, and both slammed into the platform. Levia came slamming down onto one of them, and as she pounded it, Yuugi ran in and started punching it.

The fists rose back into the air, and Levia jumped down to the platform. "This 'Geppetto' machine is sturdy."

"No shit," Yuugi said. "What the hell is this thing made of? Whatever it is is far tougher than that door."

"We'll take some once we beat it," Nue said. "Maybe that missing mythril is part of it or something. But let's worry about the fight first."

The hands again returned to their positions beside the face and repeated the beam attack. The sweeping beams were again easily evaded, and the lasers then targeted Nue and Yuugi. Nue formed two green UFOs. One flew into the path of each beam, and they met the attack with their own beams.

The beam attack ceased, and the hands moved in again. This time, they both came slamming down from above, one targeting Yuugi and the other Levia. Both evaded and attacked the hands. Nue formed a few more green UFOs, all of which fired beams at the same spot on the hand Yuugi was attacking, and Nue fired another from her trident.

When the hands returned to the face again, they once more fired the sweeping beams. "Kind of predictable, isn't it?" Yuugi said. She flew over to the left hand, the one she'd previously been hitting, landed on it, and resumed hitting it. "Nue! Levia!"

Nue set two UFOs to counter the targeted beams, and focused the remainder on the hand. Levia sent a column of water slamming into the same spot Nue's beams were hitting. Yuugi, meanwhile, just kept pounding on it.

The left hand began acting much as the smaller robots had before exploding. "Off of there, Yuugi!" Nue said.

Yuugi leapt onto the platform, and just as she landed, the hand exploded. Then the right hand exploded. "Wait, why did that one explode?"

"No idea," Nue said. "Okay, the hands may be down, but this thing probably has more than just laser-firing hands to attack with."

The head lowered itself below the level of the platform, and as it did, hatches opened in the platform, dispensing quite a few of the basic robots. "It's calling for backup," Yuugi said. "Like these things are gonna help against us."

"I've got them," Nue said. She sweapt her own beam and those of her UFOs across the platform, clearing out the weak robots in a matter of seconds.

More robots emerged, and along with them came a total of eight turrets. Nue unformed her green UFOs and replaced them with rainbow ones, which began firing dense sprays of shots, effectively clearing out everything the turrets were firing. While they did so, Nue herself took out the robots. Yuugi and Levia, meanwhile, were quite literally tearing the turrets apart.

Clearing out the reinforcements didn't take long. The robots were soon destroyed, as were the turrets, which, like the previous ones, left bombs behind.

Geppetto rose up again. "Main target's back," Yuugi said. "Let's take it out."

The head opened its mouth, revealing a cannon that immediately fired a large laser. Nue countered it with a beam of her own, but doing so was much harder. "This is a stronger attack than what the hands could do. I'll handle the beam; you two beat the shit out of this thing!"

Yuugi and Levia both slammed into the head at full speed and started hitting it, but to little apparent effect. "Damn, this is some tough stuff," Yuugi said. "It's gotta be the mythril. I don't think I'm getting through it anytime soon."

"Then we alter our approach," Levia said. She flew up and focused her attack on the left eye. As she did, the laser stopped, and the mouth immediately closed.

Levia hit the eye a few times, but then an explosion sent her flying backwards. Multiple missiles were being fired from both eyes. Levia and Nue immediately took evasive action, but Yuugi just waited. A few of the missiles did indeed target her, and she aited until the last second to dodge to the side, causing them to impact Geppetto. They didn't seem to do much damage, though. "Damn, I thought that would work."

"Hitting the eye also had little effect," Levia said.

"Then we strike inside the mouth when it opens," Nue said.

"The laser began firing immediately. It will act as a counter to our attacks, and also prevent us from attacking physically."

"Then we overwhelm the beam."

Yuugi dropped down to the platform. "I just had an idea. Nue, get down here and counter its beam. I'll handle the rest."

Geppetto opened its mouth, again firing the beam almost immediately. As before, Nue countered it. Yuugi, instead of striking the face directly, picked up one of the bombs and threw it at the open mouth from an angle. As soon as the bomb hit the mouth, it came into contact with the laser, which did what the impact might well have done anyways: it cause the bomb to explode.

The face actually wobbled for a moment before resuming its steady position. "That did something," Nue said. "Nice one."

"I don't know why these bombs are here, but there's no reason not to use 'em."

Geppetto fired missiles again, which the trio were able to evade without much difficulty. Then it opened its mouth again and fired the laser. Nue countered the beam again while Yuugi grabbed another bomb and repeated her previous attack. And once again, it worked. "I think we've got a plan here."

The cycle of avoiding the missiles and bombing the mouth repeated a few more times, until the head finally stopped moving. Parts of it exploded, the pieces falling all over the platform, and it fell down the shaft and out of sight.

"That was interesting," Nue said. "Right, let's go check the last room. Then we'll gather up all these pieces from that thing and get out of here."

The bridge was still retracted, but that wasn't an issue for people who could fly. The door didn't open when Nue pushed the button, but Yuugi and Levia simply pushed it up into the ceiling, and the three of them entered the room beyond. A room that did indeed have another occupant, sitting on the floor on the other side of the room. "Mitori," Nue said.

Mitori got to her feet. "Nue. And… two people I haven't seen before. You look to be an oni, but you…" She looked carefully at Levia. "Some sort of serpent youkai, I would guess. Certainly aquatic."

"You are correct," Levia said. "I am Levia, and the oni is Yuugi."

"I see. Well, I'd ask what you're doing here, but given how long I've been gone, I'm pretty sure you're here because Nitori sent you to look for me."

"Pretty much," Nue said. "We're looking for material for some gauntlets for Yuugi while we're in here, though."

"Then you may be in luck. I heard you fighting that Geppetto thing, and judging by the debris on the platform, I'd guess you beat it."

"We did," Yuugi said.

"That thing had mythril plating. I don't think there's anything better than mythril."

"Nitori thought so, too," Nue said. "She didn't think we'd find any, though. Said that some was used for the 'hub of the security system', but that nobody could find it."

"It was used for Geppetto, it would seem."

"What happened?" Yuugi said. "Why were you in here?"

"That thing attacked me when I got down here. I tried to fight it, but it was winning. Fortunately, I'd thought to forbid the doors from closing when I entered the chamber."

"The one we used had an opening in it," Nue said, "but the door was closed.

"Really? This room's door stayed open. Guess I didn't notice the other door mostly close. I was a little occupied by Geppetto's attack. I could tell I was losing the fight, so I fled through the nearest door, which led into here. I closed the door behind me, and fortunately, Geppetto didn't try to get in. I'd hoped to find myself in the elevator room, but unfortunately, I chose the wrong door. Since Geppetto wasn't trying to attack me while I was in here, I decided to rest before making a run back through Geppetto's chamber."

"Well," Yuugi said, "we took that thing out for you."

"Which does make things easier," Mitori said. "With it gone, I think I'm rested enough to make it out. Especially since I'll be with the three of you."

"Then let's get moving," Nue said. "We'll gather up the debris from Geppetto, then let's get out of here."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, finally got chapter 6 done, and we learned a few things about Utsuho. And Yatagarasu. I haven't seen anything about how it died, so I gave it a little backstory. Then we learned just why Utsuho is as powerful as she is. That's going to come up again, I'm sure. And we saw a little more of Keine and Tenshi, too.<strong>

**Also Nue's group fought a giant robot head.**

**Now, normally this is where I'd say reviews are appreciated, but, well, the last chapter got a total of one review here, and nothing at all over on MotK. So that was pretty demotivating. It was hard to get myself to work on this chapter after that; that's part of the reason it took so long. Yeah, I can look at the number of times the chapter's been read, but, well, there's a bit of a difference between that and actually seeing people say what they think about the story. So please, take a minute or two to tell me (and anyone else whose stories you read) what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7: Destinations

**Chapter 7  
><strong>_Destinations_

Nitori didn't even wait for Nue and the others to return to either the workshop or the house. She came outside as soon as the group exited the elevator, presumably having heard it. "Mitori!"

Mitori stepped forward from the others and allowed her sister to embrace her. "Hi."

Nitori pulled away after a few seconds. "You had me worried, sis. What happened down there?"

"Went the wrong way running from a surprisingly nasty robot."

"Nasty robot? I thought there weren't any really tough ones left!"

"Surprised me, too," Mitori said. "I thought I'd head deep in, see if I could find some of that missing mythril. Wasn't expecting a giant robot head."

"A giant- what? That doesn't make any sense. Why would it be a giant head? Wait, why am I thinking about that?" Nitori embraced her sister again. "I'm glad you're okay."

Mitori waited until Nitori pulled away again. "Well, I don't know why there was a giant robot head, but I did find what I was looking for. The thing was using the mythril as plating. It fell down the shaft when those three," she indicated Nue, Yuugi, and Levia, "destroyed it, but we still got a fair amount of scrap. Should be some usable mythril in there."

"Wait," Nitori said, "you got- you have- bring it into the shop! Now!" She grabbed Yuugi, who held the most scrap, and pulled her along towards the workshop. "Come on come on come on!"

Mitori chuckled. "I thought she'd do that. Well, come on, let's get the rest of the scrap inside."

* * *

><p>Mokou engulfed the Shade in fire, then cut through its middle with her sword. Then Kaguya struck, slicing through it vertically. Then Mokou slashed it through the neck, which was the final strike.<p>

"Well, then." Kaguya said as she Shade's body faded. "That one was a lot tougher than the others."

"It happens sometimes," Mokou said. "Every now and then, a Shade shows up that's a lot tougher than the others. Usually, they don't fight any differently; they just take a lot more damage to kill. And no, nobody knows why that happens."

"I've realized how little is known about the Shades," Kaguya said. "I wasn't going to ask about that. I'm just going to ask what I was about to before you saw those Shades and attacked."

"And that is?"

"Why are we here? This area of the bamboo forest doesn't have anything of note. Or it didn't five hundred years ago, at least. But you seemed to know exactly where you were going. So why are we here?"

"You're here because you won't just leave me alone. I'm here to speak to Lady Nightbug."

"'Lady Nightbug'? Wait, you mean Wriggle? That firefly youkai?" Mokou nodded. "Since when is she 'Lady' Nightbug?"

"She's changed over the past five hundred years," Mokou said. "Apparently, her lineage is one of considerable power. She's only come into that power since the Radiance."

"What sort of power?"

"I don't know," Mokou said. "I just know she has a lot of it. That, and that her ability to command insects has… altered. She's more… aware of them, now. And aware of what they're aware of. It's like she sees and hears through all of them at once, or something."

"Ah, I understand. You want her help finding Utsuho."

"Yes. This location is where you come to if you want to speak with her. She's designated it as her official meeting area. Coming here is a signal that you're looking for her. She sees your arrival no matter where she is, and knows that you're looking for her. She'll be here as soon as she can."

"Why'd she let Shades show up here, then?"

"I would assume she's dealing with other Shades. It's getting late enough that she'll be awake and active. She tries to keep the forest clear of Shades, but even she can only be in one place at a time, regardless of how widely she can see and hear. With Shade activity on the rise, she can't clear them all out quite as quickly. It's not surprising that we'd run into a small group or two. Although I am surprised a group as large as the one we fought the other night managed to gather."

"Right," Kaguya said. "So more waiting, then?"

"For me, yes. You can feel free to leave at any time."

"We've been over this, Mokou. This is my fight, too."

"Then go fight it yourself."

"You don't think you can win on your own, do you?"

"Kanako said-"

"You know as well as I do that she assumed we'd be fighting her together. I don't care how well we fight; neither of us can take her alone."

"Then I'll find someone else to help me," Mokou said. "You can just leave. Just go."

"Not happening. Even if I didn't think we needed to do this together, I still need some way to find Utsuho."

Mokou sighed. _Why the hell can't she just leave me alone?_

* * *

><p>"Most of this is other metals," Nitori said. "Good ones, yes, but not as good as mythril. There is some mythril here, but only a very small amount. Enough for your gauntlets, Yuugi, but not enough for anything else."<p>

"We gathered what we could," Nue said. "We would have brought more up if we could have."

"Oh, no, don't worry about that! The other stuff is good, too. I can get plenty of materials from all this. Yuugi, come here. I need a mold of your hands for the gauntlets. Need to make sure I get all the sizes right."

As Yuugi went over to Nitori, who immediately went to work, the door between the workshop and the house opened, and Hina came through. "You're back," she said.

"Oh, yeah," Nitori said, not bothering to look up from her work, "Hina's awake."

"Um, hi," Nue said. "Sorry about the whole beating-the-shit-out-of-you thing."

"I suppose I, too, have something to apologize for," Hina said, "so I apologize for being… unnecessarily aggressive. I hardly think it was necessary to react quite that strongly, though."

"I was told as much," Levia said. "Nue said I was overly quick to attack."

"You were. I have recovered, though. And don't worry; I won't seek vengeance or anything like that. It was a disproportionate response, but not an unprovoked one. That said, however, do try to be less aggressive should we meet again, or you may find your fortunes worsening."

"Was that intended as a threat?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Nue said, "let's try not to have another fight."

"If she doesn't attack me," Hina said, "there will not be one. I will be leaving now." She walked over to the door. "Should we meet again, do try to show me the respect due a god." She exited the workshop.

"I think I missed something," Mitori said.

"She got in our way earlier," Yuugi said, "and Levia beat the shit out of her."

"Prematurely," Nue said.

"Okay, got it," Nitori said. "Mold's ready. I'll get started right away."

"How long will it take?" Yuugi said.

"Should be done in two days. If you want to infuse them yourself, stop by at some point tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll see you the next day."

"I'll see you tomorrow, then," Yuugi said. "Nue, Levia, you two heading back to the village?"

"Yeah," Nue said. "We got the object from that thing in the Aerie," she produced the tablet, "and your gauntlets are being-what the hell?"

"What?"

Nue showed Yuugi the tablet. "There's a third piece in here."

"Huh. We haven't fought any Shades since the Aerie, though, so where'd it come from?"

"Somewhere in the Junk Heap would seem likely, but there weren't any Shades in there."

"Maybe there were some and the robots killed them. Anything like that happen, Nitori?"

"Might have," Nitori said. "A lot could've happened here between our abandoning the place and our eventual return. There could have been Shades at some point."

"That's probably it, then," Yuugi said. "I guess it's a good thing we went in there, then."

"I would have gone in eventually anyways," Nue said, "once I'd run out of more likely places. So we wouldn't have missed it entirely. Still, it is good that we found it." She returned the tablet to the nether. "Anyways, no, I don't think we have any more business here, so yes, let's return to the village."

"Thanks for finding my sister," Nitori said. "See you tomorrow, Yuugi."

"Yep," Yuugi said. She exited the workshop, Nue and Levia just behind her.

* * *

><p>"An unusual sight, the two of you together."<p>

Mokou and Kaguya both got to their feet. "I'd like to get rid of her," Mokou said, "but she insists on following me."

"Yes, I gathered as much."

Kaguya recognized the figure that emerged from the trees. "Wriggle. Or 'Lady Nightbug', as Mokou seems to call you now."

"Yes," Wriggle said.

Wriggle was certainly still recognizable, but there were changes. Wriggle no longer wore the outfit she used to prefer; she now wore a simple yet elegant black dress. Physically, she was… _Less weak-looking,_ Kaguya thought,_ I guess I'd say. And far less likely to be called a boy._ "We were little more than passing acquaintances, only having met at all thanks to my fondness for your friend Mystia's cooking, but even so, it's pretty clear you've changed."

"Indeed," Wriggle said. "I have come into my lineage as Queen of the Night."

"What sort of lineage?"

"The first of my line was Nisus," Wriggle said. "Her power and being have passed through her line, and have now become mine."

"I told you she'd changed," Mokou said.

"Indeed I have," Wriggle said. "I apologize for being unable to greet you sooner; as you thought, Mokou, I was dealing with Shades elsewhere in the forest. They've become far more numerous lately."

"I think everyone's noticed that, yeah. They're becoming increasingly problematic. Kanako's been having the same problem as you: too many of them in too many places at once."

"It is a problem. But that's not why you're here. You came to seek my help in locating Utsuho."

"Yes," Mokou said. "I need to find her."

"She is beyond my sight," Wriggle said. "She has returned underground, beyond my domain. My kind do not journey down that far."

"A smaller area to search, though," Kaguya said.

"I'm not going to confront her down there," Mokou said, "not when she'd have the other hell ravens as backup. They may not be all that tough, but I don't think I'll be able to afford any distractions. I'll be waiting until she's up here again."

"Wise, I think," Wriggle said, "but even so, what makes you think you can win? I witnessed your previous battle with her-my eyes are everywhere-and you did very badly."

"That's because I didn't fight skillfully," Mokou said. "If I do fight at my best, things will be different."

"You can't win alone, Mokou," Kaguya said, "no matter how well you fight."

"Kanako seemed to think otherwise."

"You know as well as I do that she meant both of us fighting together. She saw us come to her as a pair, and assumed we'd be fighting as a pair."

"I would agree," Wriggle said. "You'll need assistance to win against Utsuho."

"Not from Kaguya, I won't," Mokou said.

"Then I suppose that is your choice. I will notify you when she returns aboveground. You should work on your battle strategy until then, because you'll need more than yourself to win against her."

* * *

><p>"You're back," Keine said as Nue, Yuugi, and Levia landed in front of her home.<p>

"Yeah," Nue said, "we're back."

"Mamizou told me you were bound for the Aerie, but you were gone for far longer than I would have expected."

"We took a side trip to the Junk Heap," Nue said. "Proved fruitful, too; there was a piece there as well as one in the Aerie. And Nitori's working on a set of gauntlets for Yuugi."

"I see. So that's three pieces, right?"

"Four," Yuugi said. "I have one back at home."

"Halfway there, then," Tenshi said. "Any idea where you're heading next?"

"Not yet," Nue said. "We'll ask Aki and Mamizou in the morning if they have any clues. If nothing else, we'll just follow reports of Shade activity."

"That works, too."

"Are you heading home, then, Nue?" Keine asked. "I think you should."

"Yeah," Nue said. "I'm heading there next. And Levia, since she's staying with us."

"I've got a room at the tavern," Yuugi said.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"No need for you to head back there just yet, is there?" Tenshi said. "Nue's got someone to get home to; you're staying by yourself."

"Oh, I'm not heading back to the room," Yuugi said. "Come on, Levia, you can come with me. Give Nue and Byakuren some quality alone time."

"Where exactly will we be going?" Levia said.

Yuugi ignored her. "Nue, should I meet you at your place again tomorrow?"

"No," Nue said, "and if I'd known you'd be coming, I would have told you not to. I'll want to talk to Mamizou again, so I'll be heading for the tavern tomorrow morning, anyways."

"That works," Yuugi said. "Come on, Levia."

"Where will we be going?" Levia said.

"Yuugi's an oni," Nue said. "She's taking you drinking with her."

"I see. I… I am not sure this is an activity I should participate in."

"Oh, come on," Yuugi said, "relax a little. Or is there something else you'd rather do for fun?"

"I was to exist only to bring the world to an end. Recreation is something I was never to partake in."

"Well, then, that's all the more reason to lighten you up. Come on!" Yuugi took Levia by the arm and led her away.

"…Right," Tenshi said.

"Well," Nue said, "I guess I'll be going, too."

"Let me know where you're going tomorrow before you leave, would you?" Keine said.

"Certainly." Nue turned to leave. "See you tomorrow, then."

* * *

><p>"You're not staying with me tonight, Kaguya," Mokou said. She had returned home after meeting with Wriggle, and Kaguya, of course, had followed her.<p>

"I don't really have anywhere else to go," Kaguya said. "Eientei's not exactly livable right now."

"Then go back to Seafront. Or go to the human village; I'm sure Byakuren will have a place for you."

"And require them to make last-minute accommodations? I'd rather not."

"But you're fine with making me accommodate you."

"I'll just sleep out here. You don't have to do anything."

Mokou sighed. "Fine. But just for tonight. Tomorrow, arrange to stay somewhere else."

"Do you have any plans for tomorrow, Mokou? We're stuck waiting until Utsuho shows herself, so what are you going to do tomorrow?"

"I don't know," Mokou said, "and even if I did, I sure as hell wouldn't tell you. You'd just latch onto me like you've been doing."

"Actually, I have my own plans for tomorrow."

"Oh, really? And what would those be?"

"I'm going back into Eientei," Kaguya said. "Eirin has to be in there somewhere, and I mean to find her."

"Oh," Mokou said. "Are you thinking of what you told Shizuha earlier?"

"I would search for Eirin anyways. But yes, I have no doubt that she can find a way to cure Gensokyo's land."

Mokou thought for a moment. _Well, it's better than doing nothing._ And she'd never had a problem with any of the others in Eientei, just with Kaguya. Eirin in particular had been extremely helpful to all of Gensokyo, and her return would be greatly beneficial to everyone. Mokou doubted they'd find her, but it was better than doing nothing. "I'll search, too."

"Oh? I thought you wanted nothing to do with me."

"We won't be together. I'll be taking a different path than you."

"Well, I suppose that'll improve our chances," Kaguya said. "But don't pretend you're not working with me."

"I won't be working with you. We'll simply be doing the same thing. Don't expect me to actually help you."

"Right," Kaguya said. "Mokou, just a piece of advice: whatever has you so conflicted towards me, stop trying to hide from it. Face it and deal with it."

"I don't need your advice."

"I gave it to you anyways." _And I hope you'll take it. For your sake, and also for mine._

* * *

><p>"Hello, Nue," Byakuren said as Nue entered. "How did things go today?"<p>

"Very well, actually," Nue said. "We found one of the objects in the Aerie, and then took a trip to the Junk Heap."

"Ah, that's why you were gone for so long. What business brought you there?"

"I thought I'd see about having Nitori make a set of gauntlets for Yuugi. Of course, we ended up on a rescue mission, as Mitori was stuck inside the Junk Heap."

"It was good of you to help her, then. Although knowing you, I doubt you did it for free."

"Nitori's making the gauntlets without charge."

"I see," Byakuren said. "That was fairly generous of you, then."

Nue sat down next to Byakuren. "I couldn't just leave Mitori in there. If nothing else, you'd never have forgiven me."

"Well, I'm glad you helped, anyways. Where's Levia?"

"Yuugi took her to get drunk," Nue said. "Yuugi said she wanted to give us some time alone. Although I'm sure she also wanted a drinking partner."

"Probably."

"How have you been today, Byakuren?"

"The pain's been there most of the day, but it's mostly subsided for now."

"Small favors, I guess," Nue said. "Hopefully, you won't have to deal with it at all for too much longer."

"Hopefully," Byakuren said, "but please don't push yourself too hard."

"You know I'm not listening to you on that one."

"I know," Byakuren said, "but I'm still going to say it. I don't want you to get hurt on my account, Nue."

"And I don't want you to die. I'm going to do everything I can to prevent that."

"Which I'm grateful for, but even so, I can't help but worry about you."

"Between myself, Yuugi, and Levia, I think we have things under control."

"Just be careful, all right?"

"All right."

"And take some time to relax every now and then."

"That," Nue said, "is something I intend to do right now."

* * *

><p>Levia set down her now-empty glass. "This… liquid is strange."<p>

"Come on," Yuugi said, "surely you've had some sort of alcohol before."

"I was asleep until a few days ago."

"Oh, yeah. Forgot about that."

"What is the appeal of this 'alcohol' supposed to be? I understand that is has an appeal, but I am unsure as to what this appeal is."

"It varies," Yuugi said. "Some people like getting drunk, while others like the taste of various alcoholic drinks."

"There are many varieties, then."

"Very many. Some have more alcohol than others, and a lot of them have other stuff in them. Not that I really care about the details. I know what I like, and that's good enough for me."

"It is a pleasure, then. An indulgence."

"Yes," Yuugi said. "You have a problem with that?"

"Why would I? There is nothing inherently sinful about seeking pleasures of the flesh. Many believe such things need be shunned, but they are wrong. Sin occurs only when such pleasures are sought at the expense of the self or of others."

"Is that something from the religion you came from?"

"Even the followers of that religion often take stances against such things," Levia said. "They, too, believe such things to be wrong. They simply happen to be incorrect."

"So you won't be calling me evil or anything. Good to know." Yuugi emptied her glass, then signaled for another.

"There is nothing to hold against you," Levia said. "Although why anyone would want to hinder their senses is beyond me."

"You don't have to understand it," Yuugi said.

"Fortunate, as it is one of a great many things I do not understand. I was never meant to understand the ways of people. My purpose was to bring them to their end. At least, it was supposed to be. But now I find myself without a world to hasten to its end."

"Yeah," Yuugi said, "you are a bit of an odd case, aren't you?"

"I fight the Shades now, but I know this is only a delay. Sooner or later, I will have to face the fact that there is no purpose to my existence."

Yuugi was silent for a moment. "You know, Levia, for most of my life, I didn't have any kind of purpose. But then the Shades destroyed our home, and now I do have a purpose: I kill Shades. I find them wherever they are, and I kill them. That is my purpose now. And you know what? I was happier without a purpose."

"Most of your kind died," Levia said. "Anyone would rather that not have happened."

"It's not just that, though," Yuugi said. "I never felt like I needed a purpose. And now I know I was right to feel that way. I want this to be over, Levia. I want it all to end so that I can go back to not having any sort of purpose. You don't need a purpose in order to live your life."

"I… I do not believe I know how to live without a purpose."

"Well, that's not a problem," Yuugi said. "I can show you."

* * *

><p>"I don't know how the other Celestials can stand eating the same things all the time," Tenshi said.<p>

Tenshi and Keine were inside now, and Keine was preparing dinner. "Most Celestials became that way through 'enlightened living', right? That includes a denial of physical pleasures, which food could partially be considered as. For them, eating is purely for sustenance; they take no pleasure in it. If you take out the pleasure aspect, it makes sense that they'd have repetitive diets. You, however, never denied yourself such things. Normally, you would never have become a Celestial."

"Well, yeah, my 'ascension' was atypical. Doesn't keep them from thinking I should be exactly like the rest of them, though. Well, except Iku, maybe. Not that she's been very happy with me, either, but she does seem to understand better than the rest that I'm just not like them."

"There's a general tendency among people to assume that others are like them," Keine said, "and that's in places that can have vastly different people. In a society like the Celestials have, where everyone there is similar to begin with, it's easy to see how this tendency could be amplified."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Oh, of course," Keine said. "I'm not trying to excuse their attitude. I don't like that attitude, either, but I do understand where it comes from. If you put some effort into understanding them, too, you might get along better with them."

"Not likely. I'm too different from them. No matter how much I 'understand' them, I'll always be the odd one out, someone who, by their standards, shouldn't be there. There's a reason I've always preferred spending time in Gensokyo, you know. Well, multiple reasons. Heaven is pretty boring, after all."

"A lot of people these days would want boring," Keine said. "At least boring isn't dangerous."

"Yeah, I guess. Never been my thing, though."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Unless you cause trouble again, of course."

"Oh, come on," Tenshi said, "that was over five hundred years ago. I haven't caused any trouble since then."

"Only because the Shades have been around to keep things interesting enough for you."

"Yeah, maybe."

"Well, at least what you're doing now is helpful. Even if there doesn't seem to be any end to the Shades."

"Everything can end," Tenshi said. "The Shades are no exception. We'll find a way to get rid of them. Hell, Nue may be well on her way to doing just that."

"Or eliminating the Black Scrawl, at least, hopefully. Even just that would be welcome."

"Yeah, I guess it'd be better than nothing. But even I'd rather find a way to get rid of that Shades. Yeah, they keep things from getting too boring, but that's not worth the harm they cause. If there's a chance Nue can get rid of the things, I'm going to support her. And if she ever needs help, I'll be glad to give it to her."

"Just try not to get yourself killed," Keine said. "I don't want to lose you."

"Oh, you won't lose me," Tenshi said. "I'll be here for you."

"I appreciate that, Tenshi."

Tenshi came right up beside Keine. "Hey, no problem. I care about you, too, you know. A lot."

"And I care about you," Keine said.

* * *

><p>"Sorry," Mamizou said. "Haven't heard anything new."<p>

As planned, Nue went to the tavern promptly the next morning. Levia had never returned from her night with Yuugi, so Nue assumed she was still with the oni. She'd make sure to get them before leaving.

"Nothing at all?" Nue said.

"Unfortunately."

"Damn. Guess I'll have to hope Ari has something. Right, then. You know which room Yuugi's in?"

"First one at the top of the stairs, I think. Her and that Levia woman." Mamizou led Nue up to the room. "This one."

Nue was about to knock when the door was pulled open, revealing Yuugi on the other side. "Thought it was you. Morning, Nue."

"Hi. Is Levia in there?"

"Yeah," Yuugi said. "Not hung over, don't worry. She went fairly easy. Me, too, at least for an oni. Can't be hung over when we've got Shades to kill."

"If we have Shades to kill. Mamizou doesn't have any leads for us. Ari may have something, but I don't know."

"Well, then just let me rouse Levia," Yuugi said, "and we'll go see her."

* * *

><p>Kaguya let herself drop the few inches to the floor-sleeping in midair was far more comfortable than sleeping on wood-and got to her feet. A quick look around the house confirmed what she'd expected; Mokou had already left. <em>She <em>really_ needs to start being honest with herself about me. Right. Well, she's probably at Eientei, and even if she's not, that's where I'm going._

Kaguya found some food fairly easily. _Looks like she still likes chicken. Hmm… well, I guess she makes her own fire, doesn't she? Well, I can use a little fire, myself. Not that I need to cook this or anything. No need for an immortal to worry about disease._ Kaguya immediately tore into the raw meat. _Tastes better like this, anyways._

After finishing her meal, Kaguya cleaned up quickly, then stepped outside. _Time to head for Eientei, then_. She took off towards her old home.

* * *

><p>"You know," Yuugi said as she, Nue, and Levia exited the tavern and began making their way to Ari's house, "if Ari doesn't have any information for us, maybe we should head for Facade."<p>

"Facade?" Nue said. "Why?"

"I was there a couple weeks ago, looking for Shades to kill. Turns out their ruler had just died. From the Black Scrawl."

"Another victim of it," Nue said. "But how does this help us?"

"Their queen was ill. I shouldn't have to tell you that they put every resource they had into finding a cure."

"But they failed."

Yuugi nodded. "True, but if the objects really are the key to curing the Black Scrawl, then their research might have turned up clues to the location of one or more of them."

"I guess it's worth a try. Probably a good idea to check the area for Shades, anyways. I think that's a good idea."

"What is Facade?" Levia said.

"It's where the kappa live," Nue said. "Their old village was destroyed, and like the tengu, they eventually decided to build a new one. Unlike the tengu, though, they moved a long distance from their old village. The tengu still live on the mountain, but the kappa now live in the middle of the desert."

"Desert."

"Yeah," Yuugi said. "They found a nice, big oasis, and built their new village around it. And they're good at drawing out groundwater, too. It's a fine place for them, I think. They looked like they were doing well two weeks ago, at least. Well, aside from having lost their queen."

"I may not do so well," Levia said. "I am of the water; a desert is no place for me."

"The kappa do fine."

"I am not a kappa."

"Well, I guess," Yuugi said.

"Would you not be able to survive?" Nue said.

"I would survive," Levia said, "but I could not function in such a place for long. If the kappa city is built around an oasis, I would be fine there, but unless they were nearby, I would be unable to accompany you in your search for Shades. After more than an hour or two in the desert, I would be too weak."

"That's not good," Yuugi said. "Are you staying here, then?"

"I can accompany you to the city. I will go at least that far with you. And if the Shades are decently close to it, I will be able to accompany you into battle. If not, though, I may have to remain in the city."

"If you've gotta, then you've gotta."

* * *

><p><em>Just upside-down right now, it would seem.<em>

Kaguya approached Eientei. _Should be easy to find the entrance if it's just upside-down. Just find where the door looks like it is, drop to the ground, and walk in._

Kaguya did exactly that, and found herself in the main hall. Although as previously, it was different than it should be. _Fewer halls this time instead of too many. Okay, right or left... right._ She made her way over to the right corridor, only to find herself in front of the left one. _Right. Whatever._ She entered the corridor.

* * *

><p>Ari had several books open in front of her when the group entered, and was quickly paging through one. She looked up only briefly as they entered before returning to the book. "Nue, Yuugi. And Levia, I assume. One second; this may be... damn, nothing here." She moved to the next book. "This one next. Chlorination..."<p>

"'Chlorination'?" Nue said.

"Found things in various books. Some things that simply now take on new significance, others that are passages, sections, or even entire books that weren't there before, that I do not remember. I have taken contributions from others, but these are not those. These managed to show up without me knowing at all. Not the first time one of my lives has found previously unknown material, and in fact fairly normal. The one in whose care I place the Chronicle during my absense from life-Keine now, various others before she was born-often adds to it. This new material was no doubt added by Keine-during the period after my life as Akyu, I believe-but I doubt she knew some of the contents of what was added. I don't know who did, or why, but I have found papers." She indicated a small pile off to the side of her desk. "Those papers. They make frequent reference to something called 'White Chlorination Syndrome'. Sounds like the name of a disease, so I've been checking records of illnesses. Nothing so far, unfortunately."

"You're supposed to be looking into the shades and the Black Scrawl. Is this related?"

"There are several factors pointing to this."

"The time matches up, at least," Nue said, "if these are indeed from shortly after Akyu's death."

"True, but not really much of a factor in that conclusion. It is from the contents of the papers that I drew that conclusion. References are made towards black marks on the skin."

"The Black Scrawl."

"Possibly. They're mentioned in conjunction with something called a 'Gestalt'. I have not yet found anything about what a Gestalt is, but one paper does mention it in conjunction with White Chlorination Syndrome. In addition, there are mentions of mindlessly aggressive creatures."

"Shades."

"Perhaps, although they are not called by that name. They are instead referred to as 'Legion'. I believe they are related to the Shades, though. The name difference may simply be because of the fact that if these papers are, as I believe, from shortly before the Radiance, then the term 'Shades' was not in use yet. And the name 'Legion' didn't come into use because these papers, quite clearly, were intended to remain secret. Why they turned up in my records, I do not know."

"You are on the trail of information related to the origin of the Shades," Levia said.

"Yes."

"What about those black objects?" Nue said. "Have you found anything related to them?"

"No, unfortunately. You're hunting Shades for them, though, right? Mamizou may be able to point you towards recent Shade activity."

"We already talked to her," Yuugi said. "She had nothing. We're probably gonna head to Facade. That's far enough away that Mam probably wouldn't know much about it, 'specially since it's not really super-common for any kappa to leave the place. Doubt she's heard much from there. And their queen recently died from the Scrawl, so they were researching it pretty heavily."

"A good plan, then. I, meanwhile, will continue my research. I'll let you know if I find anything."

* * *

><p>Kaguya had been walking forward, so she wasn't really sure how she'd managed to back into Mokou. <em>More weirdness, I guess.<em> She turned to face the other immortal. "Hi, Mokou."

Mokou sighed. "Of course I run into you this quickly."

"Well, I did tell you I was coming here."

"And I left first and went in first. I thought we'd stay seperate. Damn place has a sick sense of humor," Mokou muttered.

"I somehow went backwards by going forwards," Kaguya said. "Anything like that happening to you?"

"No, but everything was upside-down for a bit. And sideways. And randomly rotating. And the other stuff this place tends to do." Mokou walked over to a nearby door and opened it. "There is one good thing about it, though. Since everything keeps changing, you can't follow me very well." She passed through the door, closing it behind herself.

Kaguya went over to the door and opened it, but there was no opening behind it, only a wall. _Well, we'll cover more ground like this anyways._ She continued down the hall, actually going forward this time. _Let's see if there's anything over this way._

* * *

><p>"So you're off to Facade, then?" Byakuren said.<p>

"Not just yet," Nue said. "Yuugi's headed to Nitori's to do the infusion for her new gauntlets. The current plan is to head out once she's back, but given how far away Facade is, that may put us back here pretty late. Late enough that we'd be tempted to spend the night in Facade."

"Feel free to do so."

"I'm not sure I want to leave you alone for too long," Nue said.

"I will hardly be alone. You know as well as I do that almost anyone in the village will be willing to aid me if I need it."

"Yeah, but I still don't like leaving you. Hell, I'd stay in the village all the time if I could, but that won't help save you from the Black Scrawl."

"I don't like it when you leave, either," Byakuren said, "but I know why you're doing this. And even now, you're not only thinking about me. If you were, you wouldn't have gone looking for Mitori. Yes, you found one of the objects there, but you didn't think you would."

"I couldn't just leave her. As I said before, you'd never have forgiven me."

"I don't think that was the only reason you did it."

"Probably not. Spending time with you has had its effect on me, after all."

"Anyways, you don't need to worry about spending the night elsewhere. All I ask is that if you do find Shades there, please be careful. As I said last night, I don't want you getting hurt for my sake."

"I know," Nue said. "I'll be as careful as I can."

* * *

><p><em>Okay,<em> Kaguya thought, _once again I find myself thinking: this is weird._

Kaguya was in what would have been a featureless corridor, except that the walls were... strange. Kaguya wasn't at all sure how to describe the way they looked. And they were sort of pulsing. Not all at once; the pulses seemed to travel down the corridor at fairly frequent intervals.

Also, Kaguya wasn't actually on the visible floor; she was standing on some surface she couldn't see, about a foot above the visible floor.

Kaguya walked forward for a time, and then without warning, she walked straight into a wall that hadn't been there before. She took a step back and looked around. The corridor behind her was normal, nothing like the strange, pulsing one she'd been walking through. The corridor simply turned a corner, and Kaguya had walked into the wall where it turned off to the side. Also, she was walking on the floor again.

_Right,_ Kaguya thought. _Moving on._ She turned the corner and continued down the corridor.

* * *

><p>Nue and Byakuren stood and turned as someone flung the door open. "Mamizou," Nue said. "What's going on?"<p>

"Shades are approaching the village!"

"Which way are they coming from?"

"South."

"I'm going," Nue said. "Byakuren, stay in the village. Be ready in case more come. You up for it?"

"I am," Byakuren said.

"Then let's get moving."

* * *

><p>Nitori looked up from her work as Yuugi entered the workshop. "Hey, Yuugi. Here for the infusion?"<p>

"Yep," Yuugi said. "You ready for it?"

"Yeah. There's actually a pretty wide range of the forging process infusion can be done during. The more important parts are timing, duration, and that work on the weapon continues throughout said duration."

"Just tell me what to do."

"Come over here." Yuugi did so. "Have you formed familiars before?"

"Yeah," Yuugi said. "Not my preferred style, but I've used 'em. Just for danmaku, though."

"The process for forming them is the same," Nitori said. "What matters is that you've done it before. Familiars are formed by sending energy from yourself into a single point. You'll be doing the same thing here. Not to the same extent, though. With familiars, the energy is forced into a coherent form, usually a simple spherical shape. Forcing the form requires additional energy, but without that form, the energy would simply dissipate as soon as you released your focus. Here, this is not a concern, as the energy is going into an object, which already has a form. The level of energy used for a familiar would, in fact, harm the weapon. The amount of energy used in the infusion is important, as is the timing."

"Just tell me what I need to do."

Nitori showed her the in-progress gauntlets. "We'll be alternating between the two gauntlets. When I tell you to start, gather your power, your energy, and send it into the gauntlet I'm currently working on as you would send it into a single point to form a familiar. When I tell you to stop, stop. We will repeat this several times with each gauntlet. I'll let you know when we're done. Are you ready to begin?"

"Whenever you are," Yuugi said.

"Then let's begin."

* * *

><p>Levia was already engaged with the Shades. "Have care," she said as Nue landed beside her. "These ones are a new type."<p>

There were several known varieties of Shades. Fairy-types and human-types were the most common, while tengu-types, the shot-happy magician-types and the large and strong oni-types were less common. But as Nue looked over this group of Shades, she saw that Levia was right. There were human-types among them, but there was also a new kind. They looked much like human-types, although more lithe. The most striking difference was something completely new. It looked like some piece of clothing, although it was clearly part of the Shades and not something being worn. It had the appearance of being wrapped around the arms, looping around behind the head, but it seemed to come apart from either arm freely-although never from both at once, Nue noted.

One of the new Shades swung its… thing at Nue like a blade. She caught it in her trident and gave the Shade a laser to the face. _It's a weapon, then. It's what this type is armed with._ And like all Shade 'weapons', it seemed to be a part of the Shade, rather than a weapon it was wielding.

The human-types were as simple as always, but the new types were proving more difficult. "These ones are more agile," Levia said.

Nue formed several green UFOs and coordinated their attacks on one Shade such that there was only one way it could evade. Which, of course, brought it right into the path of Nue's thrown trident. "Not going to matter. They're still fairly easy."

"Most are. My current opponent is proving to be a different matter."

"Unusually tough Shades do show up occasionally. You deal with it; I'll handle the others."

Tenshi crashed down on a keystone, crushing several shades. "Starting without me?"

"I guess that means fewer others to handle," Nue said, running her trident through one. "Careful, Tenshi! These are a new type!"

Tenshi cut through one with her sword. "Not a problem!"

Only five were left. Nue repeated her earlier trick, using lasers to force one to dodge into her trident. This one didn't die, though, so Nue licked it into the ground and impaled it through the head.

Levia lashed at her opponent with her whip, but the Shade struck it to the side with its weapon. Levia charged and punched, but the Shade leapt over her. Nue ran in to impale it, but it ducked under the attack and kicked her.

"Damn," Nue said stepping back. "Usually even the tough ones don't fight this well." She struck but the Shade knocked her trident to the side with its weapon. Levia came in with another punch, only for the Shade to leap over it to the side while lashing out with its own weapon.

Tenshi sent keystones into all three of the Shades facing her, all human-types, knocking them to the ground. Then she thrust her sword into the ground, quickly opening up a fissure underneath them. As they fell in, she slammed it closed, then spun to see the one remaining shade perform a leaping evade of a punch from Levia. And then it lashed out with... _That's-_

Nue fired a beam at the Shade as it landed, but it reacted quickly enough to evade, leaping backwards as it fired a few shots of its own. Levia simply sweapt the shots away with her whip. "This one has skill."

"Yeah," Nue said. "First Shade I've seen that seems to actually know how to fight. I don't think it'll last too long against both of us, though. Let's-"

"Step aside."

Nue and Levia turned to look as Tenshi pushed them to the side. "Tenshi, what are you-" Nue started to say, but then quieted herself.

Tenshi stopped a few feet away from the Shade, her sword drawn. "She desires to fight it alone," Levia said. "Her emotions are… complex. But strong."

"Yeah," Nue said. "Did you see the look on her face? I don't know why, but this just became personal for her."

"So we allow her to fight alone?"

"I'll intervene if she's about to be killed," Nue said, "but aside from that, yes, I intend to let her fight alone."

* * *

><p>Tenshi faced the Shade, sword at the ready. <em>Focus. Think clearly. Don't let feelings get in the way. Control them. Use them. Lashing out in fury only gets one killed.<em>

The Shade made the first move, lashing out with its weapon. Tenshi met the strike with her sword, allowing the Shade's weapon to wrap around it. She yanked her sword back, pulling the Shade towards her, and gave it a kick to the face. She pulled her sword free and threw it into the Shade's torso, then called it back to her.

The Shade leapt back a ways and began firing rotating streams of shots. Tenshi cut her way through them, approaching the Shade. Nue, meanwhile, formed two green UFOs, positioning them such that their beams formed a barrier to protect herself and Levia from the shots without interfering with the battle.

Tenshi's progress slowed as she drew closer to the Shade, having a denser volume of shots to deal with. So she sent a keystone forward, which plowed through the shots and impacted the Shade, knocking it down. The shots stopped, Tenshi rushed in and attempted a stab through the chest, but the Shade was too quick. It rolled to the side and leapt to its feet. It grabbed Tenshi by the arm and swung her overhead, attempting to slam her into the ground. Tenshi impaled it through the head as she passed over it and drove it to the ground as well, landing on top of it.

The Shade grabbed Tenshi with both hands and threw her away as it did a backwards roll, landing on its feet and spinning around to face Tenshi. Tenshi hit the ground, rolled, and sprung to her fet, quickly charging at the Shade again.

* * *

><p>Keine landed next to Nue and Levia. "Villagers are safe in the schoolhouse," she said. "What's going on here?"<p>

"Only one left," Nue said, "but it's a tough one, and on top of that, it's the only Shade I've seen that fights with any level of skill. Also, there was a new type of Shade. The tough one is one of them, but the others were regular Shades, just a new type. They weren't tough or skilled like this one."

"Why's Tenshi fighting it alone?"

"Because she desires to," Levia said. "I know not why-her emotions are mixed, complicated-but Tenshi considers her battle with this Shade to be personal."

"We'll step in if Tenshi loses," Nue said, "prevent the Shade from killing her, but aside from that, I think we should let her have this one."

"…Fine," Keine said.

* * *

><p>Tenshi again allowed the Shade's weapon to wrap around her sword, and as she'd done before, she pulled the Shade to her, kicking it while pulling her blade free and stabbing the Shade in the face. <em>May fight skillfully, but at least it doesn't seem to learn.<em>

The Shade fired several shots as it charged. Tenshi countered the shots with some of her own, and the Shade she impaled on her blade. She swung her sword overhead, slamming the Shade into the ground behind her. The Shade lashed out with its weapon, wrapping it around Tenshi's leg as it hit the ground and pulling Tenshi off her feet. Tenshi didn't hit the ground, instead reacting quickly enough to remain suspended in the air, in a horizontal position. She pulled her sword free of the Shade and spun around in a kick with the wrapped leg, spinning the Shade around and slamming it into the ground again.

The Shade didn't loosen its grip at all. It fired several shots into Tenshi at point-blank range, knocking Tenshi back, itself getting pulled along with her. Tenshi reacted by pulling her leg in, yanking the Shade closer. She took hold of it and shot up into the air. The Shade quickly released its hold on Tenshi's leg, but was unable to escape her grip as she rose higher. Eventually, she spun around vertically several times and hurled the Shade into the ground, following up by crashing down on top of it on a large keystone. The keystone disappeared just in time to allow Tenshi to see the Shade's body fade. "Die, you piece of shit."

* * *

><p>"Stop and switch," Nitori said.<p>

Yuugi did so. "How much longer?"

"You're about halfway there. Getting bored?"

"Not really. I've never done this before, after all. No, it's not exactly the most exciting thing ever, but it's not too bad. 'Sides, I thought about taking up smithing myself once, several hundred years ago. Back before the underground was unsealed. Decided against it, but I still think it's interesting to watch one at work."

"Glad someone appreciates the craft," Nitori said, "instead of just the result. Okay, start."

"Got it."

* * *

><p>"Well," Nue said, "that was interesting."<p>

Tenshi just stood there for a minute, then walked over to the three of them. "Are you all right?" Keine asked.

Tenshi went over to her. "Keine."

"Tenshi. Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right?"

"Not unscathed, but nothing serious for a Celestial. Physically, you're fine. But you don't look 'fine' at all. What's going on, Tenshi?"

Tenshi was silent for a moment. "Keine, I have to go."

"'Go'?"

"I have to go back to heaven."

"You have to… why?"

"That Shade," Tenshi said. "We've had ones like fairies, of humans, of tengu, of oni, of magicians. But this one was different. A new type."

"What type? What was it?"

"It bore characteristics of my kind," Tenshi said. "That Shade was like a Celestial."

* * *

><p><strong>I again find myself having to apologize for taking so long with a chapter, but I have a good excuse this time: I was without my computer for most of a month. Got it back now, obviously.<strong>

**Anyways, as is so often the case, stuff happened. A lot of it more relaxed. Nue and Byakuren, um, spent time together, as did Keine and Tenshi. And it looks like something may be starting to develop between Yuugi and Levia, too. And then, of course, there's Mokou and Kaguya.**

**Those of you who read Orphan, my previous fic, probably recognized my depiction of Wriggle. No, that's not meant to imply a connection between the two stories, because there is none. Much like Byakuren's sealing scene, I simply liked that version of Wriggle enough that I decided to use it again.**

**It looks like Are, meanwhile, has found some new clues. Too bad they just raised more questions.**

**Also, now there are celestial-type Shades. That can't be a good sign.**

**Anyways, next up is Facade. Should be fun.**

**And, of course, reviews are encouraged and appreciated.**


	8. Chapter 8: Facade

**Chapter 8  
><strong>_Facade_

"And… done," Nitori said. "Infusion successful."

"Nice," Yuugi said. "So, these'll be ready tomorrow?"

"Yep! Kind of a shame I only had enough mythril for these, though. I'd have liked to work with more of it. Still got a lot of good stuff, just not quite as good as mythril."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Mitori said. She'd just returned from a brief trip into the Junk Heap, and was in the workshop to deposit what she'd brought back. "There's still more in there, you know."

"You got trapped last time you went down that far, remember? Please don't go down there again."

"Oh, you don't need to worry. There's no giant robot head anymore, you know."

"Yes there is! It'll be rebuilt like every other robot in the place!"

"Not this one," Mitori said. "I have forbidden its reconstruction. It has been tried, of course, so I've had to re-forbid it a few times. That's why I didn't go in very far today; adding that effort on top of everything else yesterday really wore me out. But they seem to have given up now on trying to rebuild it."

"…I still don't want you going that far in," Nitori said.

"Well, if you're so worried, why don't you come in with me?"

"I- wha- huh- what? You know I can't get very far in!"

"You'd be with me," Mitori said, "so you'd do better. Besides, you can make, like, any kind of weapon you can think of. Surely you can come up with something that'd help you out."

"Um… yeah, I guess I could, but…"

"Well, I'll leave you two to your business," Yuugi said. "See you tomorrow, Nitori."

"Oh, yes, of course," Nitori said. "Bye!"

* * *

><p><em>Aaaaaaand I'm back outside.<em> Mokou sighed. _This is a waste of time. Not like I have anything better to do, though._

But that wasn't true, and Mokou knew it. There was something she needed to do, but she didn't want to. Not because of what it was, but because she would need a second person, and the only one who would do was Kaguya.

_This is more important than my lack of comfort,_ Mokou decided eventually. _I need to do this. I'll just have to find Kaguya. Well, the best bet is probably just to wait at the entrance here. The only constant of this place: if you keep going, you'll eventually end up back outside._

Mokou found a place to sit, and waited.

* * *

><p>It was Byakuren who answered the door. "Oh, hello, Yuugi. Back from Nitori's, then. How did it go?"<p>

"Just fine," Yuugi said. "I did what I needed to do, and Nitori should have the gauntlets finished by tomorrow. Where's Nue?"

"She told me she and Levia were going to see Ari. I think Keine's there, too."

"Ari? Did she find something new?"

"There was a Shade attack while you were gone," Byakuren said. "Nue, Levia, and Tenshi took care of them. There was, however, a new type of Shade among them. According to Nue, they resembled Celestials."

"Celestials? Like Tenshi?"

"More like the messenger, Iku. Tenshi prefers her sword, but most celestials use the shawls of their outfits as their weapons, and Nue tells me these shades had something like that."

"A new type of Shade," Yuugi said. "All the other types have been around since the Shades first appeared. This is the first time there's been a new type."

"And also the first time there have been giant… things like the one Nue says you fought at the Aerie yesterday."

"New Shade types, Shades being more numerous, Shades being more aggressive, and all of this happening around the same time as Nue and I finding this tablet that's connected to the Shades and may at the very least be able to cure the Black Scrawl."

"And Mira says the border's started changing within that same time frame."

"Really?"

"Yes," Byakuren said. "Nazrin is currently searching for Ran Yakumo, whom Mira hopes can shed some light on just what it is that's happening to the border."

"And this started around the same time as the increased Shade activity?"

"Yes."

"Okay, there's no way all this is a coincidence."

"That does seem unlikely."

"So Nue was hoping Ari could help figure out why we've got a new type of Shade?"

"I believe so, yes. It's certainly worth informing her of."

"I'll head over there, then," Yuugi said. "See ya."

* * *

><p>"And the first case of a celestial with the Black Scrawl was a few years ago?" Ari said. "Do you have a more specific number?"<p>

"No," Keine said. "Tenshi probably does, but she went back to heaven to tell them what happened. Is that important?"

"It might be. Not enough information to be sure, but I now see the possibility that the Black Scrawl is related to the very existence of the Shades. A celestial gets it, and then a few years later there are celestial-type Shades. Could be a coincidence, could be something more."

"Wait," Nue said, "are you saying the Black Scrawl might be involved in the creation of Shades?"

"It is a possibility. The Black Scrawl, then the Shades."

"The Shades appeared during the Radiance," Keine said. "There weren't any cases of the Black Scrawl before that."

"No known cases of the Black Scrawl," Ari said, "no. I have, however, found a mention of White Chlorination Syndrome with an associated date, four years and ninety-three days before the Radiance, which falls within the range of 'a few years'."

"That would seem a quite minor thing to base such a conclusion on," Levia said.

"Not a conclusion. A possibility."

"What is 'White Chlorination Syndrome'?" Keine said. "That's not the same thing as the Black Scrawl, is it?"

"Unknown. It's likely connected to the Shades, but I've found no real information on it."

"You were talking like you thought the two diseases were the same."

"A possibility," Ari said. "One of far too many. The Black Scrawl forms the Shades. The Shades cause the Black Scrawl. White Chlorination Syndrome caused the Black Scrawl caused the Shades. White Chlorination Syndrome caused the Shades cause the Black Scrawl. All three are completely unrelated. The two diseases are the same. White Chlorination Syndrome doesn't actually exist. The Shades _are_ the Black Scrawl. The shades are White Chlorination Syndrome. The Shades are both. And many others. Far too many possibilities at the moment. I need more information if I'm to narrow it down."

"I… see," Nue said. "Right, well, let me know if you learn anything new."

"I will. For now, please leave me to my work."

"We'll do so, then," Keine said.

* * *

><p>Yuugi arrived at Ari's house just as Nue, Levia, and Keine left. "Hey!"<p>

"Yuugi," Nue said. "Good timing."

"Byakuren tells me there was some fun while I was gone."

"New type of Shade."

"Yeah, so I heard. And Tenshi went back to heaven?"

"Yes," Keine said. "She thought her people needed to know of this. And I agree, as much as I didn't want her to leave. There's no telling when she'll manage to get away again."

"Right. Nue, we ready to head for Façade?"

Nue nodded. "We were just waiting on you."

"Well, then, let's go."

"Hold on." Nue turned to Keine. "Yuugi, Levia, and I are going to Façade, and we may not be back until tomorrow. When we made that plan, we thought Tenshi would still be here to help protect the village. Are you okay with the three of us leaving its safety solely to you and Mamizou?"

"Are you volunteering to stay?"

"No way," Nue said. "There's a chance this might help Byakuren, so I'm doing it. And Yuugi, you should probably come, too. You've been there before, whereas I haven't. What about you, Levia?"

"I… suppose there is little for me to gain by accompanying you," Levia said. "Unless they are fairly near the oasis, I will be unable to aid you against any Shades you hunt. And yet…"

"You want to come with us."

"I do, though I do not understand why. I can sense the emotions of others, but most of them I am unaccustomed to feeling in myself. I do not understand why I desire to accompany you, but I do know that I have that desire."

"Then go," Keine said. "I'm more than capable of handling Shades myself."

"Not on our level, though," Yuugi said, "are you?"

"Before the Radiance that was true, but I am much stronger now than I was then. I've had to be, as the world is far more dangerous now. And Tenshi has trained me in the use of a sword, as well. I can fight just fine. Besides, Byakuren's well enough right now that I can call on her aid if necessary, and Mamizou can lend what aid she can as well."

"And I can stick around for a bit."

All four of them turned to face the speaker. "Mira," Keine said. "I wasn't expecting you just two days after your last visit. You normally don't come here quite so often."

"I came to see Byakuren," Mira said, "see if Nazrin's had any luck yet in finding Ran."

"She hasn't," Nue said.

"Yeah, Byakuren told me that, too. But then I had the idea of going through the Gensokyo Chronicles, seeing if I could find anything in there that might help me figure out just what's happening to the border. If there's trouble while I'm here, I'll lend a hand."

"We may be gone overnight."

"Yeah, I won't be here that long."

"We'll be fine," Keine said. "It's been just me, Mamizou, and Byakuren before, you know."

"Yeah, but not overnight."

"We'll be fine," Keine said. "Don't worry, Nue. You do what you need to do."

"All right. Thanks, Keine."

* * *

><p>Mokou got to her feet as Kaguya emerged from Eientei. "There you are."<p>

"Oh?" Kaguya said. "Were you actually waiting for me?"

"Yes, and shut up. This is important."

"Oh?"

"I…" Mokou paused. "Okay, I really don't like this, but… I need your help."

"To fight-"

"No. That I will do alone. But… well, I'm going to need to fight at my best, something that I've only ever done against you. And when I've done so, I've always fought to kill. But I don't want to kill Utsuho."

"I see," Kaguya said. "You want to learn to fight at your best without killing your opponent. So you need a skilled opponent, and because you'll no doubt land a few killing blows, especially at first, it pretty much has to be me."

"…Yes."

_She's actually come to me for help with something. Maybe she's making progress after all. _"I'll want to spend some time each day here. I'm not giving up on finding Eirin."

"Fair enough."

"Also, it'll be more convenient if I stay with you rather than move to Seafront or the human village."

"I knew you were going to say that." Mokou sighed. "Fine, as long as you're willing to keep sleeping on the floor. Or slightly above it, as the case may be."

"Actually, I think I'll just grab a bed from Eientei the next time I end up in a bedroom."

"…That works too. I don't really care, as long as you stay the hell out of my bedroom."

"Deal. I'm heading back into Eientei. Going to look for Eirin a bit longer, then we can start your practice sessions."

"Very well," Mokou said. "I'll head back in, too, then. Not together with you, of course."

"We're more likely to find something if we split up, anyways," Kaguya said. "Let's get looking."

* * *

><p><em>When the kappa moved their village, they chose a location far away from the old one. They actually live in the desert now. A race of aquatic youkai living in the desert may seem a little strange, but they seem to like it there. They found an oasis and built their village there.<em>

_Unlike the tengu, the kappa are quite accepting of visitors. The tengu were never the most welcoming of people, but they were not hostile to outsiders the way they are now. The kappa, on the other hand, are still fairly friendly to outsiders. They don't get many visitors, though. Very few people travel between villages these days, and Façade's distance means they get even fewer. Byakuren and I have never actually been to Façade-we're generally kept fairly busy around the human village, and rarely venture far from it-but I expect the kappa to be quite welcoming. Unlike at the Aerie, we should have no trouble finding information in Façade._

* * *

><p>The trio landed in front of Façade's main gate. "That was unpleasant," Levia said, "but already I can sense the waters here."<p>

"It's a lot nicer than the open desert," Yuugi said, "that's for sure."

As they approached the gate, the two kappa flanking it stood up straight. "Visitors!" one of them called out. "Open the gate!"

The massive stone gate slowly swung open, and Yuugi led the way through, the gate closing behind them. "This," Levia said, looking around, "seems to be an unusual place."

The stone gate through which they'd passed was part of an outer wall that enclosed the entire village. Against the wall was a series of connected structures broken only by the entrance and the large building, clearly a palace, located across from the entrance. The 'ground' extended generally for a few meters in front of the structures, but it was quite irregular in that, as well as elevation and even shape. It was, in fact, not ground at all, but the top of another set of structures. This lower layer was much the same as the top one, but as it was set within the first one, it had a smaller perimeter. Part of that layer was a waterway that went all the way around.

Within that second layer was a third layer, and inside that one a fourth. The fourth layer was divided into quadrants by small channels through which water flowed, though they were bridged. Below this lay a fifth layer that was even more clearly divided into quadrants.

The space encircled by this lowest layer was filled with water, which the channels from the layer above poured into. There was a walkway about halfway between the city layer and the object in the center, and another immediately around the object. Said object was a few meters square, and rose up out of the water to about the level of the second layer. Bridges stretched from that layer to the top of the object, where a small, one-room structure stood.

The various layers of the city were connected by stairs, but these stairs were placed as though completely at random. Coupled with the irregularity of the layers, the result was a confusing maze of ups and downs, but even so, the numerous kappa moving through the city were all navigating on foot; not a one of them flew even the shortest distance.

"Well," Nue said, "this is… interesting."

"Yeah, it's fairly confusing," Yuugi said.

"Do they dislike flying in the village?"

"Maybe. Didn't ask last time I was here, but I did stick to the ground myself, just in case. I didn't go far beyond the entrance, anyways, and I didn't stay for very long, either. Just long enough for several people to tell me there'd been no Shade sightings recently. I heard about their queen's death from the Black Scrawl, but that was recent enough you couldn't go five seconds without overhearing someone saying something about it. There was also a lot about rules, but I didn't pay much attention. Doesn't matter to me what rules the people here live by."

A nearby kappa approached them. "Visitors! In accordance with Rule #156, I welcome you to Façade! What business brings you to our city?"

"I'm looking for a way to cure the Black Scrawl," Nue said. "Yuugi here told me of your efforts in that regard, and suggested that we pool our information with that of your researchers."

"I see," the kappa said. "Well, um, I'm pretty sure we never learned anything."

"I have learned a few things. Perhaps I can catch something your researchers didn't."

"Well, I can certainly take you to see them. But first, in accordance with Rule #12,923, please allow me to escort you on a tour of our city."

"I appreciate the offer" Nue said, "but that won't be necessary."

"It is, though. Rule #12,923: All first-time visitors to Façade must be taken on a tour of the city."

"I've actually been here before," Yuugi said, "and nobody made me do anything like that."

"Oh? When were you here?"

"Shortly after your Queen... passed away. And I was only here for a few minutes, so maybe that's part of it, too. Didn't pass beyond right about where we are right now. I was here looking for Shade sightings, but the first couple people I asked said there hadn't been any, and it really didn't seem to be the right time to stick around and ask everyone, so I left right away."

"I see. That's probably why, yes. We were in official mourning, as per Rule #4,444, so official response to your arrival would have been slow, and you simply didn't stay long enough. As per Rule #4,445, I apologize on behalf of all of Façade for the resultant failure to properly greet you. Please allow me to correct for this."

"Well?" Yuugi looked over to Nue. "What do you think?"

"Let's go along with it," Nue said. "We don't really know our way around, so taking a tour could be useful. Besides, they might not appreciate a refusal. I may not like spending time on something like this, but it's probably best not to upset the people we're here to get information from."

"I desire to see more of this place, myself," Levia said. "It is… unusual, and the people here feel… different than those in the human village and Seafront."

"All right, then," Yuugi said. She turned back to the kappa. "We'll take the tour. I'm Yuugi, by the way, and this is Nue and Levia."

"I'm Fyra," the kappa said. "Now, this way, please."

* * *

><p>There was a knock at the door. Ari opened it, then immediately called to her guest. "Mira, it's for you."<p>

As Ari returned to her desk, Mira looked up to see Nazrin, and immediately got to her feet. "Nazrin."

"Hey, Mira," Nazrin said. "Keine said you'd be here. Tried the shrine first, but you weren't there."

"I'm researching the border's condition. I thought I'd see if the Chronicles had any useful information."

Nazrin chuckled. "You just don't have any patience, do you? Well, you needn't have bothered."

"You've found Ran."

"Chen, actually. Ran's shikigami."

"Her shikigami. Good enough. Take me there."

"Probably not the best idea. She's quite a ways away from here. It'd be tomorrow by the time we got there."

"And it would take just as long to get back. Too long a time for me to leave the shrine unattended for. Very well, then. If I can't go to Ran, she can come to me. I need you to go back, Nazrin, and tell Ran to come to the shrine."

"One step ahead of you," Nazrin said. "Ran may not have been there, but apparently the shikigami bond lets her and Chen talk to each other no matter how distant they are. Chen relayed what Ran and I said to each other. I knew you'd want Ran to come to the shrine, so I told her that. She plans to come tomorrow. Probably not going to get there until evening, though, given how far away they are, but Ran does intend to come."

"Excellent," Mira said. "Good work, Nazrin."

"Not a problem. Oh, Ran and Chen may decide to stay at the shrine overnight, rather than make their return trip at night. Just thought I'd let you know."

"I appreciate that," Mira said. "I suppose I'm done here, then, Ari. Thank you for allowing me in."

"You're welcome anytime," Ari said.

* * *

><p>Fyra led the trio down a set of stairs to the second layer, stopping in front of an open-faced shop. "This is an item shop."<p>

"Not a phrase you hear often," Nue said. "I think the only time I've heard it was when listening to Sanae talk about her 'video games'. What all is sold here?"

"A variety of things, as detailed in Rule #31,219. Medicinal herbs and such are the most popular items. They also offer a variety of components our magicians find useful. Now, this way, please."

Fyra led them over to a dock by the waterway, to which a wodden raft was tied. "In accordance with Rule #12,923," she said to the kappa standing next to the raft, "I am escorting these visitors on a tour of the city."

"Understood." The kappa turned to face Nue's group. "Please get on the raft."

Fyra boarded the raft first, followed by Nue, Yuugi, and Levia. The other kappa picked up a pole resting next to her and boarded herself. She untied the raft, then took position at its front a ti bagan to move, using the pole as necessary to control its speed and make sure it didn't hit the side of the waterway.

"I sense no ability at work here," Levia said. "What is causing this water to flow?"

"It's kept flowing in a counterclockwise direction," Fyra said, "and at a constant speed. The tower you can see in the middle there is the control unit for all aquatic equipment in the city."

"'Equipment.' You are referring to machinery, correct?"

"Yes, and that tower houses the control unit for all of it; keeping the water in this waterway flowing, pumping water from the pond to those channels to keep it moving and prevent it from becoming stagnant, regulating the irrigation of the gardens, drawing more water from the ground as needed, and many other things."

"I don't see any gardens," Yuugi said.

"They're not outside. Rule #213: all gardens are to be located either in artificial structures or underground. Proper gardens wouldn't do very well outside, so they're kept where the environment can be controlled. Temperature, moisture, soil conditions, all of it. And thanks to work done with the hell raven Utsuho Reiuji long ago, we can produce artificial sunlight, allowing the plants to grow even when cut off from natural sunlight."

"You've been mentioning rules a lot."

"We have many rules," Fyra said. The raft came to a stop at another dock. And Fyra led the trio off the raft and over to a nearby open-faced store, this one having a second area in the back. "This is a smithy. Rule #53,912: all shops must be open-faced towards the middle of the city. Sadly, the kappa's best blacksmith elected to stay behind when our people moved here, but the ones we do have are still quite capable."

"Nitori," Yuug said. "She's actually working on a set of gauntlets for me."

"Then you made an excellent choice. Her prices may be high, but the quality is unparalleled. Follow me, please."

Fyra led them back to the raft, which soon stopped at a third dock. Again, Fyra led the three of them to a nearby store. "This is a produce shop. Food grown in the gardens is sold here."

"Are all the shops on this level of the city?" Nue asked.

"No. Rule #33,451: All residents must live on a level appropriate to their status. There's no rule saying that merchants must operate their shops out of their own homes, but most choose to for convenience. All they need to do is add an open room for the shop. So there are shops on all levels. Sales stalls-such as those used by traveling merchants on the infrequent occasions such individuals come here-on the other hand, are restricted to a marketplace area on the second level near the palace, as per Rule #10,119. Now, follow me, please."

The next stop was yet another store. "This is a strange-thing store," Fyra said. "This store stocks a variety of strange items. They have items from the outside world, though not many, seeing as how nothing's come through since the Radiance. There are also a variety of more unusual creations of our engineers. They also have ancient scrolls and tablets and such, old pottery, that sort of thing. And then a number of things that are harder to categorize. Basically, if you're looking for something and have no idea where to start, start here."

The tour ended at the same place it had begun. "That's that," Fyra said. "Any questions?"

"Just how many rules do you have?" Yuugi asked

"The most recent rule is Rule #132,918."

"Whoa. How the hell do people remember them all?"

"Rule #11,878: Aside from those related to general conduct, individuals are required to know by heart only those rules relating to their professions. We're not required to remember them all, nor are we expected to. Rule #31,400: Individuals are to be informed as necessary of any rules they may not know by heart. And Rule #1,913: All homes must have at least one up-to-date copy of the Official Rule Compendium, updates to which will be distributed as necessary."

"What about visitors?"

"Rule #913: Visitors to Façade are not to be expected to know the rules, and are not to be looked down on because of this. Rule #1,112: Visitors are exempt from following most rules, and those they are expected to follow will be brought to their attention as necessary. You'll be told if there's a rule you need to be aware of, but aside from that, we assume you'll act according to the rules of where you're from. Oh, there's also Rule #3,901: Although visitors are exempt from most rules, no resident of Façade is to violate a rule on a visitor's request or behalf."

"Why do you have so many rules, anyways? Is there any reason for things such as making visitors take a tour or requiring shops to face into the city? Seems a bit restrictive."

"Restrictive?" Fyra said. "No. 'Rules do not exist to bind you; they exist so that you may know your freedoms'. The rules are about what we can do, not what we can't."

"Right," Yuugi said. "Well, to each their own, I guess. If it works for you to have all these rules, then I see no reason you shouldn't."

"We would agree. Any other questions?"

"I don't think so," Nue said.

"All right. You said you're looking for information on the Black Scrawl, right? Let me show you to our research laboratory. This way."

* * *

><p>Mokou exited her home behind Kaguya. "Couldn't you have taken a smaller bed?"<p>

"Yes," Kaguya said, "but that one's mine. Or an exact replica of it, at least. I wasn't about to pass up that bit of luck. Besides, it doesn't take up that much space."

"I'm throwing it up against the wall if it's ever in my way."

"Fair enough. Now, how are we going to do this?"

"By proceeding a safe distance away from here and then fighting," Mokou said. "We just fight like normal, except that I try to beat you without killing you. You, on the other hand, are to come at me like normal. Utsuho won't be holding back, so I don't want you to, either."

"Makes sense. You have a place in mind?"

"The clearing where you woke up after I brought you back above ground."

"Works for me. Let's go."

* * *

><p>The front room of the research building was completely plain; there wasn't even a desk, just doors to various parts of the facility. Fyra led the trio towards one, but before they reached it, someone opened it and stepped through. "Oh, visitors. That's rare. Um, welcome."<p>

"These three are from outside the city," Fyra said, indicating the trio. "They're looking for a way to cure the Black Scrawl, and heard about our city's efforts in that regard."

The researcher chuckled humorlessly. "You wasted your time, then," she said to Nue's group. "We didn't learn shit."

"We know you haven't succeeded yet," Nue said, "but surely you found _something_."

"Not really. Nothing we've tried did a damn thing. I'm not sure even Yagokoro could cure it. Not that she's been seen since the Radiance, anyways."

"Actually, a medical approach may not be the right way to go," Nue said. She produced the tablet. "Take a look at this."

The researcher took the tablet. "Hmm... a few centuries old, I'd say. I can't read this writing, though. What makes you think this is connected to the- wait." She put her finger on a portion of the writing. "I've seen that group of symbols before." She went quickly over to another door, followed by the others, and opened it. "Laroa, I think you'll want to see this."

The one called Laroa looked up from her desk as the group entered the room. "You have an unusual-looking group with you, Nakari."

"Yes, and one of them had this." Nakari handed Laroa the tablet. "I can't read the writing, but this part here caught my eye."

"'Black disease.' Interesting."

"Laroa is a linguistic scholar," Nakari explained to the others, "who specializes in older writing scripts."

"She wasn't part of the Black Scrawl project," Yuugi said, "was she?"

"Not at first, not with us-though there were people pouring over every single record we have of anything at all-but we kind of stumbled onto a need for someone with her expertise. It was Princess Sechs who noticed it, actually."

"Noticed what?" Nue asked.

"The markings that give the Black Scrawl its name," Laroa said, "are very similar to a script used by the oni many tens of thousands of years ago."

"Really?" Yuugi said. "I've seen the Scrawl markings, and they don't look like any writing I've ever seen."

"They probably wouldn't. When I say this script is old, I mean it."

"I've been around for quite a while," Yuugi said. "Since well before the oni moved underground."

"This script is much older. It was one of your kind's earliest systems of writing. Today, the only ones who know it are those such as myself."

"And the markings of the Scrawl are similar," Nue said. "Do you think they say anything?"

"No," Laroa said. "Not in that script, at least; it's similar-looking, but not the same. It may be a script of some kind, though. I'd love to look into that in greater depth, but we don't have a large enough sample size of Scrawl markings. They may say something, but I'd need a lot more data to work with before I can say for sure."

"What about the similar-looking script? Where did you see that?"

"There's a place out in the desert we call the Barren Temple. The script is all over in there. It's one of two in there, actually, both of which are oni scripts. One's old, dating back to when we believe the place was built, while the other has only been in use for about ten thousand years. And it is in use today." She indicated Yuugi. "You probably know that one."

"Why are they there, though?" Nue asked. "Why would oni scripts be in this 'Barren Temple'?"

"We believe it was built by the oni."

"Wait," Yuugi said, "you don't mean the Temple of Trials, do you?"

"Never heard that name," Nakari said.

"It's a testing ground. In ancient times, one was required to complete the trials within in order to earn the title of Deva. Never been there myself, though; we'd stopped using it by then. But I do know it's more than old enough to have writing in a script nobody uses anymore. I'd guess the newer script was added when the old one began to fall out of common use."

"Most likely," Laroa said. "They do both say the same thing, so I'd arrived at that conclusion myself."

"But wait," Yuugi said, "why were you in there? I doubt that place is connected the the Scrawl."

"We think the Shades are connected to the Scrawl, and the temple is a nest of them."

"An odd reason to think there'd be information there," Nue said. "I'm sure the Shades just like the place because it's an enclosed structure."

"Indeed," Nakari said, "but we were fairly desperate at that point. The medical researchers hadn't learned shit, and the people looking through past records and such found nothing but a few references to a 'black disease'. Many in what I'd assume is the same script as on that tablet of yours-that's how I recognized the symbols."

"One of the scripts," Laroa said, looking at the tablet again. "There are two different scripts here. Do you three need someone to translate them?"

"We already found someone to," Nue said. "We know what's written there."

"It seems to support our belief that the Shades and the Scrawl are connected," Laroa said. "Hmm... should I assume you're looking for the 'black marks' it mentions? You seem to already have three of them."

"And a fourth at my home," Yuugi said. "You're right; we're trying to get all eight of them."

"They're usually held by Shades," Nue said, "so we'll be heading for this 'Barren Temple' of yours."

"Not on your own," Nakari said. "The temple can only be entered in the presence of a royal. It's a rule. That's why Princess Sechs was leading the team that went in there."

"Then we'll need to see her. Or whoever it is we need to talk to about this."

"Yes, that would be her. And if you're trying to cure the Scrawl, I'm sure she would be willing to aid you.

"That's good. What are the rules for getting an audience?"

Before any of the three kappa could answer, another kappa burst into the building. "Emergency notification! Princess Sechs is missing!"

"Then we have to look for her!" Fyra said. "Rule #66,000: If our ruler is gone from the city in an unofficial manner, all available kappa must aid in returning her to the city!"

"We can't. We already know where she is, and it's the Barren Temple."

"The Barren Temple? But-"

"But Rule #101,229 prohibits anyone from entering without royalty present, and Princess Sechs is our city's only royalty."

"But... but what about Rule #66,000?"

"It seems to me," Levia said, "as though the situation resolves itself. If none of you are allowed to enter the Barren Temple, then none of you meet the condition of being available."

"Wait," Fyra said, "you want us to just do nothing? That place is far too dangerous for her to be alone! You think we should just leave her there?"

"Sounds to me like you're not allowed to do anything else," Yuugi said. "'Course, don't think that's going to stop us from going."

"No, you can't!" the messenger kappa said " The rule applies to everyone! You're not allowed to enter unless there's royalty present!"

"I am Yuugi Hoshiguma. I am one of the Four Devas of the Mountain, the leaders of the Oni. Is that good enough?"

"Um... I don't think being a leader is enough unless you're actually royalty, no."

"Actually, it is," Fyra sad. "Rule #23,999: The leaders of other people are to be considered royalty as far as the Rules are concerned. It's long been recognized that other cultures may or may not have royalty, so that rule was made to provide a standard for treating visiting leaders. The leaders of other people deserve the same treatment and respect, regardless of whether or not they're royalty."

"Do you actually know every single rule?" Yuugi asked.

"Of course. I'm an official guide, and we're required to know every rule. We're spread throughout the city, available to answer any questions anyone may have regarding the Rules. We're also responsible for welcoming and assisting visitors; that's why I was the one to give you the tour. One of us is stationed by the entrance to the city at all times, and when you arrived, it was my turn at that position."

"How the hell did you learn every single one of over 130,000 rules?"

"With difficulty," Fyra said "There's a reason we're paid as well as we are. Very few people can do this job. I know every single rule, and in most cases I also know the reason why it was made, which is not true for most of us."

"Damn."

"We're also expected to keep up to date with new rules, of course."

"How often are new ones made?"

"Not too often these days. The pace used to be much faster, but as more rules are made, situations that warrant new ones become less and less common."

"We're getting caught up in something that's not relevant," Nue said. "The point is that Yuugi does count as royalty for the sake of any rules, which means being with her is enough to allow entry into the Barren Temple. Where is it?"

Fyra produced a map. "Another thing all guides are required to have is a map of the city and surrounding area," she explained. She indicated a spot on the map. "The Barren Temple is located here. I'd estimate a travel time of around an hour; the sandstorms in that area are constant and fierce enough to prevent most people from flying, so once you get close, you'll be forced to proceed on land."

"And the same amount of time spent on the return trip," Levia said, "in addition to the time spent within the temple. As expected, I will need to remain here; that is far too long for me to spend in such an environment."

"Well, we already expected that," Nue said. "Looks like it's just you and me, Yuugi."

"And many of us," the messenger said. "I'll round up all available kappa to join the party. We should be ready in an hour."

"Yeah, not likely a good idea to wait," Yuugi said. "Nue and I are leaving now."

"Wait, you can't! You have to give us time so we can join the search!"

"Do I, Fyra?"

"No," Fyra said. "As the leader of the expedition, it is your right to decide who accompanies you during it."

"But we have to go!" The messenger said. "All available kappa must aid-"

"As I said previously," Levia said, "if you are prohibited from entering the the location where your ruler is, then you are unavailable to aid in the search. No rules are broken."

"I think she's right," Fyra said. "If Yuugi wants to leave without any kappa, she can."

"We'll return as quickly as we can," Nue said. "Levia, do try not to attack anyone while we're gone."

"My urges are under control," Levia said.

"Good."

"Watch out for the wolves," Fyra said.

"Wolves?"

"They're numerous, and they aren't normal wolves. Their physical capabilities are more like what you'd expect from youkai wolves, but these wolves show no signs of being youkai. We don't know what's up with them. They're aggressive, too, and we've been having trouble with them for quite some time now. They can't fly, so you don't have to worry about them while you're in the air, but they may attack while you're walking through the sandstorms."

"Thanks for the warning," Nue said. "Right, then. Let's go, Yuugi."

* * *

><p><strong>I really need to work on getting these done more quickly. Although I was without a computer again for a bit, and then ended up having to get a new one. So there was that. Still, though, I really need to try and get chapters finished more frequently.<strong>

**Anyways, we had a bit of plot in this chapter, and then were introduced to Façade. And we have our next destination, too, although NieR players already knew where Nue's group would be going.**

**Yeah, I don't really have much to say here, so I'll just say, as usual, that reviews are encouraged and appreciated.**


	9. Chapter 9: Trials

**A note before we begin: starting with this chapter, I will be including BGM tracks for certain scenes. Since this site doesn't allow for links or URLs, I will be providing the name of the track, so just do a YouTube search for the name.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<br>**_Trials_

As the sandstorms grew fiercer, Nue and Yuugi were forced to land. "Fyra wasn't kidding," Yuugi said. "This is nasty. We're not getting anywhere in the air."

"I'd assume your people chose this location deliberately," Nue said as the two of them began walking. "You know, a 'getting there is part of the test' sort of thing."

"Maybe," Yuugi said, "but I'm not sure on that. Unlike you might think, the temple actually wasn't a survival test. There was some risk, and yes, there were a few in our history who never returned, and many who came back with injuries, but the deaths were few, and most of the injuries weren't extremely serious. Deva candidates went through plenty of combat tests before earning the privilege to attempt the Trials. If you couldn't handle yourself in a fight, you never got that far. But one can't attain the position of Deva on strength alone. The Trials were designed to test us in other ways."

"Such as?"

"I don't know for sure. The last one to use it was Kisata, my predecessor as Deva, so I've never been, and the ones who had didn't say much about what they found. Part of the test is not knowing what you'll be faced with, after all. Of course, there's only so much good being told about what's in there will do, as the one thing I do know is that the tests vary. No two people face the same trials. The temple... adjusts them."

"They change each time someone enters."

"It's more than that. The trials you face are based on your performance up until then. The intent of the Trials was to force us to adapt, to ensure that we could handle any situation. If you rely too much on a certain tactic, for instance, subsequent trials will make its use difficult or impossible. A Deva must be able to adapt to the unexpected, to find victory and success no matter what."

"Why did you stop using the temple? It sounds like it did its job well. Unless there was an issue with verification, but I find that unlikely. I'm sure they thought of that when the temple was built."

"They did. It marks you if you pass."

"What is the reason, then?"

"It became redundant. The various trials and tests required to earn the privilege of attempting the Trials eventually grew to encompass everything the Trials test. The rituals and the process had simply evolved to a point where the Temple wasn't necessary."

"And the Temple was easier to cut out than all the process and rituals and such."

"Yes."

"You think it's still active after so long unattended?"

"Of course it is. It was built to withstand everything the strongest of the oni could possibly do to it. No way time can do better."

"Then Sechs has probably had to go through the tests before, having led research teams in here previously. Or does the temple only activate for oni?"

"It should activate for anyone," Yuugi said, "but I doubt Sechs has gone through the Trials before. Large enough groups are not given the trials; it was known that inspections would happen from time to time, so they build that allowance in. If she's only been in with groups, it wouldn't have activated. It's probably testing her now, though."

"I wonder if that's why she went in," Nue said.

"To undergo the Trials?"

"She was recently thrust into the role of her people's leader. She may well feel that she's not ready, although I don't think she'd come here because of that. More likely, she worries that the people of Facade think she isn't ready, and decided to undergo the Trials to prove herself to them."

"Well, I guess it's possible, but even if the Trials don't contain as much combat as one might think, they are still about making sure you can emerge victorious from any battle you find yourself in."

"But not through brute force, right? The Trials force you to adapt, to react to unpredicted circumstances. Probably to think quickly, too. All useful qualities for a leader. And you've said there's less combat, but I assume there is some, correct?"

"Yeah. I don't know what the enemies were in the past, but if there are Shades living in the temple now, it's probably incorporated them into the Trials, so I'd expect them to be the enemies now. It would recognize that they aren't real people, I'm sure, so it certainly wouldn't try to put them through the Trials, even if they entered in small enough groups."

"Then there's real danger involved, which means courage is also tested."

"And I suppose any leader would do well to be capable in battle these days, too. She could think the qualities she'd demonstrate by completing the Trials are exactly what her people want to see in their leader. You may be right, Nue."

"It makes sense," Nue said. "And to be honest, I don't think Sechs is in as much danger as Fyra seemed to."

"Probably true. Hell, she may well succeed. I see no reason not to keep an eye out while we're in there, though."

"Indeed," Nue said.

* * *

><p>As soon as her head was finished regrowing, Mokou got to her feet. "Ow."<p>

"A little hesitant there, Mokou" Kaguya said. "A small enough hesitation that nobody except me probably could've taken advantage of it, but still."

"I'm not used to worrying about whether or now a blow will be lethal. I hesitated because I can't yet make those calls as quickly as I need to be able to. I had to think, 'will this kill her', and the instant it took me to decide that it would not was enough for you to take advantage of. That's why we're doing this, so that I can eliminate such instants by the time Utsuho next shows herself."

"I know," Kaguya said. "And you're doing pretty well. Not pulling your punches nearly as much as I thought you might."

"Utsuho's tough. She can take a lot, and she can recover from a lot. I'm not worried about wounding her; she'll recover. I just need to not kill her."

"It's good you realize that," Kaguya said, "because you'll need to if you want to have a chance." _And you'll need help, too, but you won't accept it, so I'll just have to show up to the battle on my own._ "Next round?"

"Next round."

* * *

><p>Yuugi took hold of a wolf by the leg, leapt into the air, spun it vertically around her, and slammed it into the ground. Much to her surprise, the wolf got to its feet right away and sprung at her, mouth open. Yuugi let it bite down on her arm, and was again surprised, this time by the force of the bite. <em>Nowhere close to my force, though.<em> She pried its jaw open, then took hold with her second hand and kept pulling. The wolf tried to jerk itself loose, but Yuugi's grip was far too strong, and before long, the wolf's head gave.

Yuugi threw the dead wolf aside and faced the remaining two, which Nue was keeping at bay with a number of her UFOs. The UFOs were firing in a spellcard-style pattern, something not very practical in non-spellcard combat, and the wolves soon found a way through the shots. Both of them lunged at Nue, only to pass right through her. The illusion, as well as the UFOs, vanished as the real Nue appeared directly above the wolves, impaling one with her trident. She carried it high into the air, and as she did, Yuugi moved in and took hold of the one remaining wolf, swinging it back and forth over her head and repeatedly slamming it into the ground much as Levia had done to Hina. Yuugi released the wolf and stepped back just as Nue's wolf was slammed into it from above, killing both.

"That's all of them," Nue said as she landed. "Fyra was right; those were not normal wolves."

"Didn't seem to be youkai, though," Yuugi said, "despite being far stronger than any non-youkai should be."

"Smarter than ordinary wolves, too. They're certainly capable of patter recognition, at least, as they proved themselves capable of figuring out the shot patterns I was using to keep the others away while I focused on one at a time. Of course, I was able to exploit this, but they simply should not have that capability."

"Probably related to the Radiance. Damn thing screwed up just about everything."

"Possibly," Nue said. "Hard to say, really. Not that it matters much to us. Let's go; I don't think the temple is much farther."

Nue was soon proven correct; it was just a few minutes before the two of them could make out, through the sandstorm, what appeared to be the front of an artificial structure built into a shear face of a hill. "That has to be it," Nue said.

Only the entrance to the Barren Temple was visible; the rest was within the hill. There were stylized carvings of oni on either side of the temple's door, and on the door was what was clearly writing, but that was it.

Nue and Yuugi walked up to the door. "Fairly plain-looking," Nue said, "at least on the outside. Can you read the writing, Yuugi?"

"Half of it," Yuugi said, "as we thought."

"Not that it matters if the message is the same in both scripts. What's it say?"

"It says, 'To pass the Trials, you must devote yourself to the rules.' Huh."

"Sounds like something Facade would come up with."

"It does, doesn't it? But this predates Facade by a very long time."

"Yeah. It's just an amusing coincidence. Come on, then. Let's do this."

* * *

><p>When Mokou revived this time, it was to find Kaguya in combat with two large Shades, the same as the big one they'd seen the night Mokou had rescued her. And she was doing well, too, cutting through them like it was nothing.<p>

One of the two had fallen by the time Mokou joined the battle, and Kaguya leapt onto the remaining one's head and thrust her sword in. Mokou leapt up to its face and thrust hers into the thing's neck. Kaguya leapt down, pulling her sword down through the creature's back as Mokou swung around its head, pulling her own sword along with her. Then she copied Kaguya's move, just down the front of the creature instead of the back, and the large Shade fell to the ground and vanished.

"That was an interesting thing to wake up to," Mokou said.

"They showed up right after you went down," Kaguya said.

"Were there any others?"

"No. It was just those two big ones."

"Unusual for just two Shades to show up. Normally they're in groups. Although I guess we don't know what the usual is for those big ones."

"You did mention last time that you'd never seen one like it before."

"Yeah, this is something new. As far as I know, we're the only ones who've seen this kind of- wait, what's that?" Mokou walked over to where the second of the large Shades had fallen and picked up a small, black object. "Strange."

Kaguya walked over and took a look for herself. "Definitely not natural. Do you think that Shade had it?"

"Most likely," Mokou said. "You know, I think we've seen something like this before. You remember that tablet Nue had the Taoists translate for her back in Seafront? This looks like the black thing that was on it."

"Hmm... Yes, I think you're right. Nue's looking for those, isn't she?"

"Yeah. One of us should probably take it to the village and give it to her. After we're done here for the day, of course." Mokou placed the object in the nether. "Okay, let's get back to it."

* * *

><p>[BGM = Nier OST: Temple of Drifting Sands]<p>

"This," Yuugi said, "is not at all what I expected."

Having entered the Barren Temple, Nue and Yuugi found themselves in a large hall. The hall was divided in half by a chasm several meters wide and about twice as deep, and at the bottom was what looked like a stream of flowing sand. Each wall had several very large doors, each one directly across from one on the other half, and the two halves of the hall were connected by several bridges, one between each facing pair of doors. About halfway between each bridge and the next was a short descent of a few steps.

"There's magic here," Nue said. "Very strong magic. I think this entire structure has been infused."

"Yeah. My sense isn't that good, but I can feel it, too, if only weakly. I guess infusing it makes sense; that's probably what lets the place adapt like it does. But, damn, the entire temple? I've never heard of an infusion on that scale. I didn't even know that was possible."

"It has to've been done in pieces, somehow," Nue said. "Some special infusion method we just don't know about anymore that can be done in stages. And even then, it must have taken a hell of a lot of people to infuse enough energy for the entire temple. I'm surprised it's been completely unknown for so long. One would expect magicians to be all over it, attempting to figure out just how it was made."

"Only the oni would've known it existed at all, and these days, we had no idea it was infused. And before the kappa built Facade, there was pretty much nobody out in the desert. Doesn't surprise me this place went undiscovered by everyone else for so long. And these days, stuff like this is overshadowed by the Shades, so I'm not surprised nobody else knew even after the kappa found it. Sounded like they've had people here, though."

"They do have less to worry about from Shades," Nue said. "They do still have to worry some, but this isn't an environment Shades like. That's probably why they're in the temple; it's the only place in the desert they would prefer. Of course, the kappa have the wolves to deal with instead, but even so, nobody knows how to infuse something of this size anymore. I suppose it's not too surprising the kappa would want to figure out how it was done, even on top of everything they already have to worry about."

"I guess so, yeah. Right, let's get moving."

"Agreed," Nue said. "Okay, we're looking for Shades, but also for Princess Sechs. Let's check every room in here."

"We'll probably have to complete the Trials," Yuugi said.

"Even if Sechs just did them? Well, given how much magic is in this place, I suppose it's not too surprising they can reset that quickly."

"Yeah. We'll have to complete each test to move on."

"Then let's get started."

As they were on the left side upon entering, Nue and Yuugi initially tried the first door on the left, but there was a seal on it that prevented it from opening. "Maybe they haven't reset yet," Yuugi said. "Maybe we won't be able to enter the rooms until they have."

"I don't think that's it," Nue said. "Look; the door across from this one doesn't have a seal. Now, yes, it's possible that one's just finished resetting already, but I think we're supposed to do the rooms in order. My guess is that once we complete the test in that room, the next door will open."

"Either way, that door's not sealed right now, so let's hit that room first."

The two of them crossed the bridge, but before they opened the door, they noticed writing on it. "Both scripts again," Yuugi said. "Let's see... 'Forbidden: Magic-Spewing Bat'. The hell's that mean?"

"It must be the rule for the test," Nue said. "It seem there is to be no use of magic in this one. Not sure what bats have to do with magic, though."

"Odd rule to have here. Oni generally prefer to keep things physical."

"We'll probably see that forbidden later on."

"Yeah, probably. Let's do this." Yuugi opened the door, and she and Nue entered the room. The door immediately closed behind them, a seal forming on it. "I guess we're not leaving until we finish the trial."

The two of them were in a fairly large room, far longer than it was wide. The door they'd entered through was, it seemed, the only way in or out of the room. Across the room from the door was a large, square block with a pink glow around it. Other blocks, ones without the glow but with what appeared to be strange, simplistic circular faces on one side, were positioned on the walls and ceiling, and each was firing a stream of shots from the side with the 'face'. Some of the blocks were stationary, some were rotating, and others were sliding along the floor, walls, and/or ceiling.

"That explains the 'no magic' rule," Yuugi said. "That pink block's gotta be a target, and the place doesn't want someone to be able to just blast it from here."

"Most likely, yes. We're likely supposed to navigate through that fire to reach the target block."

"Those shots look like the Shades' shots."

"They do, but that's likely just a coincidence. They feel significantly different."

"I can't sense 'em well enough to tell. Well, whatever. Not like they can slow me down." Yuugi charged straight towards the block, into the field of fire, without bothering to try and avoid any of the shots. Naturally, she was hit right away, and an instant later, she appeared beside Nue back by the room's entrance. "What the hell?"

"Interesting," Nue said. "These shots aren't meant to harm, but to return you to the start of the room. No wonder they feel so unusual."

"So, what, we have to cross without getting hit even once?"

"I believe so," Nue said.

"Well, this probably won't work, but..." Yuugi flew up to the nearest face block and struck it, breaking it apart, only for it to reform almost immediately. "Yeah, I didn't think that would work. No brute-forcing through this one, I guess."

"You said it yourself, Yuugi; this temple was meant to test your people in ways they aren't used to. Oni pride themselves on their strength and durability; we should assume neither will work to pass these tests."

"Yeah, I guess that's right."

"These are tests of the mind, not just the body."

"Yeah. Wonder how many tries we get before it decides we've failed."

"I don't know, and I have no intention of finding out." With careful timing, Nue threw her trident such that it crossed the room without making contact with a single shot, sailing into and through the target box, which promptly broke apart into dust. "There," Nue said as she called her trident back to her.

"That works, too. I think. I doubt that'll work again, though."

With the target box gone, the other boxes stopped firing and broke apart themselves. Then words appeared on the ground in front of Nue and Yuugi, in both the ancient and current scripts. "Okay, then," Yuugi said. "Let's see... it says, 'Proceed to the next trial and devote yourself to the next rule',"

The seal on the room's door vanished, and the door swung open. As Yuugi and Nue returned to the main hall, the seal on the door immediately across from them, the one they'd first tried to open, vanished. "Looks like I was right," Nue said. "We'll just have to do these in order."

They headed over to the door, and Yuugi read the text on it. "'Forbidden: Soaring Eagle, Leaping Frog.' So no jumping or flying. I wonder why it's using animals."

"No idea. At least these ones make more sense than 'magic-spewing bat'."

"Yeah. Well, let's head in."

They did so, and as before, the door closed behind them and became sealed shut. This room was much like the last, except that this time, there was another door-also sealed-at the other end of the room. This room had large blocks arranged to form a winding path. Many of the blocks were just plain blocks, not moving or firing or doing anything at all. There were quite a few face blocks, though, and those were once again firing steady streams of shots.

"This one's a gauntlet run, it looks like," Nue said. "We have to reach the end without getting hit, and without jumping or flying over the blocks. I would think you'll find yourself unable to move or destroy them, too. I'm sure they're meant to withstand such attempts."

"And they're too large for us to climb over without jumping up to grab onto the top. We'll have to run through. But how? From what little we can see of the path from here, it doesn't look like those face blocks are gonna give us any openings in their fire."

"I may be able to block the shots with my trident, but oni generally don't use weapons, and blocking with your arms likely won't work here, since the shots return you to the start upon contact with you. I would assume you're meant to shield yourself with magic while passing through the path."

"I can produce enough shots to cover myself," Yuugi said. "This shouldn't be a problem."

"Probably true," Nue said, "but I have a better idea." She formed several rainbow UFOs and set them spinning around herself and Yuugi while spraying fire outwards. She also placed a couple overhead in case of a surprise from above. "There we go."

"That works, too."

The two of them made it through the path without incident, and Yuugi smashed the target block at the end. As before, all the other blocks in the room vanished, and text appeared on the floor. "It says the same thing as the last room did," Yuugi said.

This time, it was not the door through which they'd entered the room that became unsealed, but the one at the other end. And this one had writing on it, which Yuugi read. "'Forbidden: Soaring Eagle'. I guess we're going right to the next trial."

Through this door, the two found not another trial room, but a short corridor. "It looks like it runs parallel to the main hall," Nue said. "That door down there must lead to the next room down."

"Guess we won't be walking back into the main hall after every test, then. Looks like we'll be taking a snaking path through this place. Which means we'll have to get across to the door down there."

The only solid land in the corridor was directly in front of either door. Passing below those and crossing the entire corridor was the same flowing sand as in the main hall. Between to two doors were platforms floating on the sand.

"I'm guessing we don't want to touch the sand," Yuugi said.

Nue nodded. "It feels the same as the shots we've been dealing with. I believe touching the sand would have the same effect, sending us back to the start."

"Okay, so no flying and don't touch the sand. Easy enough." Yuugi ran and leapt across the platforms, making it to the other side in a matter of seconds. "Your turn." Nue formed a UFO, sat on it, and allowed it to carry her across. "Or you can do that. Hardly seems necessary, though; this one's pretty simple."

"I know," Nue said. "I'm running a test. I want to see how long it takes this place to forbid something I keep using."

Yuugi looked at the door. "Looks like it's reacting already. The inscription here's different than it was a moment ago. It already had 'Magic-Spewing Bat', and also 'Stationary Owl', which I guess means we have to move immediately when we enter and not stop until we destroy the target block."

"A reaction test, then. We won't be given time to think; we'll instead have to act immediately and react as we go."

"Yeah. Anyways, those were both there before, but now it's added another one, 'Pack-Hunting Wolf'."

"No familiars, then. Could also mean it doesn't want us going in together, wants each of us to be completely alone."

"No," Yuugi said, "that it doesn't do. You enter as a pair, you face the trials as a pair. We would never dishonor the legacy of Echina and Ekina."

"I think I've heard those names before. Can't really remember where, though."

"They're legendary among the oni. They lived a long time ago, even before this place was built. Echina was blind, and Ekina was born without arms. They were twins, and the two of them together were far more capable and formidable than any other oni or pair of oni, despite their disabilities. They held the title of Deva together, and are remembered as the greatest of the Devas. Nobody would even suggest preventing a pair from attempting the Trials together; such disrespect to their legacy would never be tolerated. No, the new rule is just no familiars, I'm sure. Surprised the temple reacted after just two uses, though."

"I... no, I don't think it's about how many times I used familiars," Nue said, a trace of awe in her voice. "I think it's because I used one frivolously. There was no reason I should've gone straight to using a familiar to get across, and this place recognized that. How the hell did the ancient oni manage to do that?"

"They infused this entire temple," Yuugi said. "Is this really that much more impossible?"

"Absolutely. Infusion on such a scale is at least theoretically possible; we just don't know how to do it. But _this_..."

"We already knew the temple can react to our actions. How is this different?"

"Recognizing an action is simple," Nue said, "but recognizing _intent_? Recognizing an action requires only observation and correlation, but intent requires _interpretation_, and only a mind can do that."

"Are you saying the ancient oni gave this place a _mind_?"

"I don't know. That's not supposed to be possible, but neither is interpretation without one. I'd say it's more likely there's not a mind, but even so, this should be impossible. Damn! No _wonder_ the kappa are interested in this place. Once this Black Scrawl business is done with, I've _got_ to bring Byakuren here. She-or any high-level magician, for that matter-would _love_ to be set loose in here."

"The sooner we get through here," Yuugi said, "the sooner you'll have that chance."

"That's true. Let's get moving, then. Remember, once we enter, move immediately and keep moving."

"Yeah. Let's go."

They entered the trial chamber and immediately began moving, something they promptly found to be fairly difficult. Face blocks were scattered throughout the room, creating a chaotic field of fire. At the other end of the room was a four-by-four stack of plain boxes. The target box was not visible.

"The target must be behind those boxes!" Nue said as she and Yuugi moved separately through the field of fire.

"I bet those boxes are there so you can't just throw your trident at it!"

"Then we get behind them. Move!"

Neither of them had too much difficulty navigating the field of fire without being hit. It was Nue who made it behind the boxes first, and she promptly destroyed the target.

"Not too hard for people familiar with danmaku," Yuugi said. "Wonder why it thought that would be a challenging test?"

"Danmaku only came into general use a couple thousand years ago, well after your people stopped using this place. And it laid abandoned until the kappa found it, but by then, the Shades had driven danmaku back out of common use. It's likely this place simply doesn't know about danmaku."

The tow of them moved on, passing back into the main hall. They crossed the bridge between it ad the next door. "Okay," Yuugi said, "this one says- wait, what the hell?"

"What is it?"

"It's... asking a question," Yuugi said. "The text reads: 'Question: What is danmaku?'"

"Holy shit," Nue said. "That'- how- this is- holy _shit_."

"I know that's not supposed to be possible, but is it really that much more impossible than all that other stuff?"

"I... I suppose it's not any crazier than recognizing intent. But still, none of this is supposed to be possible. What the hell did the ancient oni do to pull this off?"

"Don't know," Yuugi said. "I do think we should answer the question, though." She turned back towards the door. "Danmaku is a non-lethal means of combat, used to prevent the risk of death. It became less common about five hundred years ago, but many of us are still familiar with it." She faced out towards the chasm and fired a few basic shots. "That's basic danmaku. Danmaku is usually fired in patterns." She produced a basic pattern. "That's a fairly basic pattern. This one is at a much higher level." She fired a far more complex pattern.

"The text on the door just changed," Nue said.

Yuugi turned back to the door and read the text. "It says 'Input accepted.' And it's changing again. Now it's telling us the next rules. We've got no magic and two new ones, 'Protected Turtle' and 'Blade-Wielding Tiger."

"No defensive positions, I would assume," Nue said, "and no weapons.

"You think that includes fists?"

"Probably not. There does need to be something we can use to destroy the target block, after all. Won't help you with the shots, though, I don't think."

"Yeah, probably not. Let's go."

They entered the test chamber to find a row of three blocks in front of them. Unlike the plain blocks encountered previously, however, these blocks were mostly transparent. On the other end of the room was the target block, sitting stationary in midair, and behind it was a solid wall of the face blocks, all of which began firing immediately. Only the clear blocks shielded Nue and Yuugi from the fire. There were other plain blocks throughout the room, some in mdair, though they were of the usual variety, non-transparent. They did serve to block the shots, though. But staying behind one wouldn't be quite that simple, as they were moving. Each block was moving back and forth a set distance, either side-to-side or up-and-down.

"This one's clear enough," Yuugi said, she and Nue safe from the barrage of fire behind the transparent blocks. "We have to use the moving blocks as cover."

"Yes," Nue said. "I can see one block that moves such that it's alined with our cover here. We'll have to stay with each block until its 'clear lane' is right next to the clear lane of another, then move to that other one. We keep passing behind blocks further down, getting closer to the target block until we can move into its safe lane so we can get up to it and destroy it. Let's go one at a time, so we're not in each other's way."

"Yeah, good idea. I'll go first."

Yuugi waited until one of the blocks made a safe lane adjacent to the clear blocks, then moved into it. The block was now rising, but Yuugi knew not to immediately rise with it. Since the motion of the shots wasn't instantaneous, the safe area lagged behind the position of the block, and the farther from the block, the greater the lag. This made staying in the safe lane somewhat tricky farther away from the block, so Yuugi approached it, moving carefully through the lane. Upon reaching the block, Yuugi moved with it until it was next to another clear lane, then moved into that lane, with Nue then moving into the first lane as soon as she had a chance.

The two of them continued forward in this manner. As they moved farther through the room, the difficulty increased. The movement speed of the blocks began to vary, as did the time they remained paused at the ends of their back-and-forth paths. The last pair of lane changes were not at the end of the blocks paths, but in the middle, while they were still in motion. Neither of the pair had too much difficulty timing their movements correctly, and Yuugi, having started first, reached the target block and smashed it, clearing the trial. The door on the far end of the room opened, and Nue and Yuugi passed through. Beyond was a short corridor to the next trial chamber, parallel to the main hall like the sand corridor, although this one was simply a plain corridor.

The next trial forbade magic and defensive positions, as well as jumping and flying. The layout was simple; the target block was at the end of the room, again behind plain blocks, and along the left wall were face blocks at regular intervals, firing across the room into the other wall. "Okay," Yuugi said, "what's the plan here?"

"I can clear a path with my trident," Nue said, "but it seems strange to me that only one of us would be able to get through. It seems more likely that there's another way through this trial, one that doesn't require wielding a weapon. Especially since most oni don't use weapons."

"You do, and you can bet this place knows it. I don't think it's strange that it would want you to use it. And I can certainly see it forcing us to cooperate. Although I do think there's a way to get through without a weapon." Yuugi positioned herself along the left wall and charged, slamming into and through each face block before it was able to reform. "And that's it," she said after reaching the end. She then broke the target block, clearing the trial.

They passed through the main hall, stopping in front of the next door. "Okay," Yuugi said, "this one forbids... it says 'Slow-Moving Snail'. Huh."

"A new rule."

"And the only rule for this trial, it looks like. 'Slow-moving'. Does that mean we can't fall below a certain movement speed?"

"Doubtful," Nue said. "We already had one that forbade standing still; I don't think this place would make a separate rule that would essentially have the same effect. No, I think this rule is different from the others."

"Different how?"

"Different in that it's not forbidding any actions. I think it means we'll have a time limit."

"Yeah, that makes sense. All right, let's do it."

The trial chamber was filled from wall to wall with plain blocks, stacked up to the ceiling. There were three openings in the wall of blocks, and through them, Nue and Yuugi could see paths extending through more blocks. "They must go all the way back to the target," Yuugi said. "Looks like it's a maze."

"Indeed," Nue said. "And look at the blocks."

Yuugi took another look at the blocks. Unlike the plain blocks they'd seen in earlier trials, each of these had a line stretching across it. At one end of the line was an image of a snail. "What is that, a timer?"

"Most likely. I'd assume we have until the snail reaches the other side."

"It's not moving."

"Probably because we haven't started yet. I'm assuming the timer starts once one of us enters the maze."

"We go in separately, then," Yuugi said. "Only one of us has to reach the target, so there's no reason to stick together. At least it looks like there's light in there."

"Yes. I think it's coming from the blocks. I'm also sensing some sort of... interference, I guess. I think it'll disrupt control of familiars, so we won't be able to use those very well."

"Huh. Well, you ready?"

"I'm ready," Nue said. "Let's go."

The two of them entered the maze through separate openings. Nue went in through the lowest opening, a path which soon turned upward for a ways before again turning, heading for the side with multiple branches leading further in. She took them in order of appearance, exploring each one and all additional paths is spawned fully before moving on to the next. Most were fairly quick, though a couple were longer.

Yuugi's path was different. It had fewer branches, but they tended to be longer, winding their way through the maze before dead-ending. And these paths only occasional had branches of their own. Eventually, one of these led to a connected series of looping paths, and it was while exploring these that she found the target block. She smashed it, and the maze disappeared, dropping Yuugi and Nue to the ground, both of whom reacted quickly enough to land on their feet.

"That went well enough," Nue said.

"Yeah. Past the halfway mark, but not quite at the three-fourths mark, I think. Probably good that we didn't both choose a wrong entrance."

"I don't think it would have been that problematic," Nue said. "It's likely that the three sections were connected to each other within the maze."

"Well, maybe. Doesn't really matter now. Let's move on."

Next was another sand corridor, this one prohibiting familiars in addition to flying, presumably to prevent Nue from repeating her previous trick. The course was a bit tougher, with some platforms moving and others periodically lowering into the sand, but neither of the pair had any real difficulty crossing. "That's odd," Yuugi said, examining the door. "No rules listed here."

"Strange," Nue said. "Well, we'll likely find out why once we enter."

Yuugi opened the door. "Or exit, as the case may be."

This door, rather than leading into a trial chamber, opened to an outdoor bridge. As Nue and Yuugi crossed it, they saw that the bridge stretched across a small cleft in the face of a cliff, a cliff the temple appeared to be built into.

"Were we really that close to a cliff without noticing?" Yuugi said.

"I don't think so. Given the length of the temple we've traversed so far and the extremely low visibility caused by the sandstorm, we certainly could have missed it, but if there was really a cliff like this, someone would know, but nobody seemed to, and there wasn't one on the map. And looking at how far it seems to stretch, only part of it would be in the sandstorm area, anyways."

"Then what is this?"

"I don't know. It doesn't feel like an illusion, but I don't think we were sent anywhere. But it's obviously not actually physically here, so it's being produced somehow. Although I suppose if anything could produce an illusion I can't detect, it would be this place. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless this place was built into a cliff initially, before Gensokyo's separation."

"And, what, it was moved to be part of Gensokyo?"

"I think it could probably handle that part on its own, actually," Nue said. "It wouldn't actually have to physically move. Given that this entire place is infused, it certainly could have aligned its magical energy to resonate with that of the separation, which would have been enough to pull it into Gensokyo. It would hardly be the only structure brought into Gensokyo in that manner, although none were close to this scale. It was mostly individual homes whose residents didn't want to abandon them in the move. And they, not having the infusion this place does, had to be specifically enchanted to get pulled in, so this was really limited to the homes of sufficiently capable magicians or those who were able to enlist the services of such magicians."

"And those houses have effects like this? Views of landscapes that they no longer look out on?"

"No, but again, this place achieved the effect differently, aligning its own magic with the separation rather than being enchanted. And if it was built into the cliff, it's conceivable that some remnant of that would persist, even though the structure is no longer located in a cliffside."

"So this is, what, a memory?"

"Not exactly," Nue said, "but I think that analogy is fairly close."

"Huh."

"'Huh', indeed. I know I've said this before, but I absolutely have to bring Byakuren here sometime. But first we have to cure her. So let's move on."

[pause BGM]

* * *

><p>This time, it was Mokou who waited to Kaguya to come back to life.<p>

"I'm surprised," Kaguya said as she got to her feet. "I didn't think you'd take that shot."

"That may have been a fatal blow to you," Mokou said, "but Utsuho's tougher. She would have survived it."

"Most likely, yes. Another round?"

"I don't think so," Mokou said. "I think that's enough for today. Also, it'll be dark before too long. We should get that black thing to the village, and I think we'd be better received before dark. If we're doing it today, we should probably do it there's someone behind you."

Kaguya spun around, immediately seeing what Mokou was referring to. She had never before seen the woman who'd just walked into the clearing, but her form, especially the wings, made it clear that she was a butterfly youkai, though she did have a significantly more imposing figure than some might expect from a butterfly youkai.

"You are Kaguya and Mokou," the youkai said, "correct?"

"We are," Mokou said. "Who are you?"

"My name is Oricla. Lady Nightbug bade me introduce myself to you."

"You're here on behalf of Lady Nightbug?" Kaguya said. "Does that mean she's seen Utsuho?"

"No," Oricla said. "Lady Nightbug wishes for me to introduce myself to you. I often act as her messenger, and she wanted you to know who I am in the event that she uses me as such in regards to the two of you."

"I'd have thought she'd just arrange a bunch of bugs into the shape of words, or something like that," Mokou said.

"She can do such a thing, of course, but it is quite inefficient. This is doubly the case for conversations. Using insects in such a manner does work well enough for simple messages, and unless I happen to be nearby, she will likely do exactly that to point you in Utsuho's direction when the hell raven eventually emerges, since there's no way of knowing how long she may remain on the surface, or how much time she may need to do something Lady Nightbug would rather she not. Unless I am already close, it would be far more rapid to use insects to point you in Utsuho's direction."

"I can't see what conversations we'd need to have."

"There is something she desires your thoughts on, in fact. Utsuho herself has yet to be seen, but others have briefly emerged from the underground. A trio of ordinary hell ravens came to the surface. They circled around an area centered on the entrance to the underground, then passed back through said entrance. Another trio did the same at the entrance to the passage leading straight to the reactor. Lady Nightbug wishes to know if you, Fujiwara no Mokou, could perhaps shed light on their purpose."

"I don't know why Utsuho specifically might want them to do such a thing," Mokou said, "but speaking in general? If I were in her position, I'd make a point of keeping tabs on the area around the only ways to get to where I lived. She does know that I intend to stand against her, after all."

"You believe they were scouts, then."

"That'd be my guess. Don't know if that means Utsuho herself'll show up soon or if she just wants the area checked regularly, though."

"You don't believe the hell ravens' purpose could be more directly related to Utsuho's desire to break through the barrier?"

"I don't see how it could be. Hell ravens are normally pretty weak. They can do basic danmaku and such, but that's about it. Sort of like fairies, although not nearly as flimsy. Or as stupid. And with somewhat stronger danmaku. And highly tolerant of heat. Also they don't resurrect. The point is, none of them have any real power except for Utsuho, and hers came from a dead god."

"Lady Nightbug can channel her power through other insects to an extent. Can Utsuho do such with her kind?"

"No."

"We need not worry about them, then. That is good."

"Yeah, let Lady Nightbug know they aren't anything to worry about."

"She already knows everything that was said here."

"Ah, of course. She's observing through surrounding insects."

"Most likely. However, that is not to what I was referring. She can use my senses as her own, just as she can those of ordinary insects. She cannot control me or other insect youkai directly as she can ordinary insects-the minds of humans and youkai are too developed to be directly controlled in such a manner-but her awareness does still extend through us."

"So she heard it all through you."

"Yes, and she can speak to my mind, as well. She extends her thanks to you."

"She's welcome," Mokou said. "Do you have any other business here?"

"Hmm... yes, both of you are most surely in control of your fear."

"Excuse me?"

"Lady Nightbug wished me to evaluate your fear," Oricla said. "She wondered if your immortality had led to fearlessness, but her worries were ungrounded."

"I'm still confused," Mokou said.

"Fearlessness oft leads to carelessness, which you can ill afford in a confrontation with one such as Utsuho. As I was already coming to speak with you, Lady Nightbug asked me to examine the state of your fear. And as it happens, you are quite well aware that you have things to fear."

"Kaguya just spent 500 years trapped inside a sun," Mokou said. "Of course she knows she has something to fear."

"And you know it, too. But that is just one specific fear. It was quite possible that fear in general is something you two simply do not feel, but I see now that this is not the case. You are both very much in control of it, which is good, but it is there, which is also good."

"And you know this how?"

"I am able to sense fear, and if necessary, I can also manipulate it to an extent. This would mean little to ones such as you, who are so securely in control of your fear, and Shades, of course, have not the minds to respond to fear, even if they do feel it, which I am not sure of; they... confuse my sense."

"They do that to a lot of people. But... your ability is to manipulate fear?"

"Makes sense to me," Kaguya said. "Markings such as those on the wings of butterflies are often meant for intimidation, are they not? Their purpose is to scare away potential threats. It doesn't surprise me that this would translate to manipulation of fear upon becoming a youkai."

_I guess that could account for her imposing figure, too._ "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Many think fear is something that should be overcome," Oricla said, "but they are wrong. Fear is natural, and it is beneficial. Only when you allow it to control you does it become harmful."

"I figured that one out a long time ago," Mokou said.

"Yes, and that is good. My business here is now concluded, so I shall leave you to yours. It is like we will meet again, so until then, farewell."

"...Right," Mokou said after Oricla flew off. "That was a little odd. Okay, then. As I was saying, I think I should head to the village now, deliver that object. Let me guess: you're going to insist on coming."

"I see no need to," Kaguya said. _Training with me is probably enough for now. It's likely not a good idea to push her too hard._ "Instead, I think I'll return to Eientei for a little while. I'll meet you back at your home."

"Well, works for me," Mokou said.

"In that case, you should get moving."

* * *

><p>[Resume BGM]<p>

"Okay," Yuugi said as she examined the text on the door at the far end of the bridge, "this one says 'Forbidden: Soaring Eagle, Blade-Wielding Tiger, Striking Gorilla'. I'm guessing that new one means I can't punch things."

"Probably," Nue said. "It would seem we'll be limited to magic here."

They entered the chamber. "A lot smaller than normal," Yuugi said. "Guess that makes sense, given that room had to be made for the bridge."

"No obstacles or target block," Nue said. "Just a lot of Shades." The room was filled with Shades, most of which were human-type, though there were also a few of the larger oni-types, with their standard shadowy maces as opposed to the shadowy swords the human-types used. _As much as they're 'using' them at all, since the 'weapons' really seem more like they're part of the Shades. _"Remember, magic only."

"Of course. Let's do this."

The battle didn't take long. Even limited to magic, Nue and Yuugi had no difficulty with the Shades. Nue, by far the more magically capable of the two, tore through them long with the UFO familiars she summoned. Yuugi took out quite a few as well, despite her lesser magic ability.

"Right," Yuugi said once the Shades were all killed, "that was easy enough wait we're not done yet."

A new enemy appeared in the middle of the room, right in front of the pair. It looked Shade-like, but it was significantly larger than any ordinary Shade. And in place of hands were what had the shape of large hammer heads, composed of the same shadowy material and seeming just as much part of it as ordinary Shades' 'weapons' seemed to be part of them.

Nue immediately spread green UFOs throughout the room, focusing their beams on the creature. Though this did appear to be doing damage, it didn't stagger the creature as would happen to ordinary Shades. It swung one of its hammers in Nue's direction, slamming it into the ground. A series of earthen spikes shot out of the ground in a line forward from the site of impact, each promptly vanishing and leaving no sign that it had ever been there. Nue barely made it out of the way in time, but when the creature repeated the move, Nue, knowing what to expect, had a much easier time evading the attack.

Nue and Yuugi circled the creature as it spun in place, repeatedly slamming its hammers into the ground and sending spike rows at the pair, this seeming to be its only means of attack. Nue and Yuugi fired at the creature constantly, as did Nue's UFOs. The creature took a fair amount of damage, but eventually, it collapsed to the ground, vanishing just as ordinary Shades did. And with its death, the trial was cleared.

"That was odd," Yuugi said.

"In more ways than one. I won't even bother asking how this place managed to just put that thing in here like that-we've already seen crazier from it-but I've never seen a Shade like that before." Nue produced the tablet, checking to see if the Shade had held another of the black objects. "Didn't have what we're looking for, though. Still just three pieces in the tablet." She returned the tablet to the nether. "Well, either way, that was clearly no ordinary Shade."

"You think this place made it somehow?"

"No. This isn't the first crazy Shade-like thing we've seen; that 'Hook' thing at the Aerie was far crazier, after all. No, I'm fairly sure it was already in the temple somewhere and just got moved into this room. I'm more concerned about why we haven't been seeing these abnormal Shades until now. But we're not going to figure that out by just standing around here. Let's get moving."

The pair stepped through the door to find themselves in a corridor, rather than the main hall as they were expecting. A quick look to the right revealed that this corridor began at the end of the main hall, on the far side. "There's the rest of the 'how is there room for this' puzzle," Yuugi said. "Not only was the trial chamber smaller, they added the width of the main hall to the space they had to work with."

The corridor continued down only a short way before ending. At the end was another door, on the same side of the corridor as the one Nue and Yuugi had just emerged from. "No writing here," Yuugi said. "I'd guess we're going 'outside' again."

Through the door was indeed another bridge, leading across to a large door. And there was someone sitting in front of the door, a kappa wearing a pack much like the one Nitori often wore. The kappa got to her feet as Nue and Yuugi approached. "I wasn't expecting others to be here. The Rules prohibit entry to this place except in the presence of a royal, so my people wouldn't have let you enter. Did you come here on your own, without first stopping in Facade?"

"No," Yuugi said. "I am Yuugi Hoshiguma, one of the Four Devas of the Mountain, the rulers of the Oni. A guide in the city named Fyra informed us that this qualifies me as royalty under your rules."

"Indeed it does," the kappa said. "Who is your companion?"

"I am Nue Houjuu," Nue said. "You are Sechs, I assume."

"I am indeed. Might I ask what business you have here?"

"There are Shades here," Nue said, "and we're hunting them."

"The Shades here rarely leave. I would think there are better destinations for Shade hunters. These ones aren't harming anyone."

"We're looking for objects they possess." Nue produced the tablet. "It appears there's a total of eight of these black objects, three of which are already in this tablet. Yuugi has a fourth back at her home, so that leaves four more. Of the ones we have, one was in the tablet when we found it, two were held by Shades, and the fourth was likely in a Shade's possession initially, though it wasn't when we found it."

"So you think the other pieces will also be held by Shades, and you came here because of the large number them here, even though they aren't as active as most. I see. Well, I have not seen such a thing, and I've had to eliminate a lot of Shades."

Nue returned the tablet to the nether. "We've only had one combat trial so far. Although it did have quite a few Shades."

"I've had four," Sechs said. "The first had no restrictions except a time limit, the second forbade my supportive equipment, the third forbade weapons and unarmed strikes, and the fourth forbade magic. That one was the last trial I faced, and it wore me out somewhat, so I've been resting here before beginning the next trial. It appears to be the final trial, and I didn't want to face it when I was already worn. I was about ready to enter when I saw the two of you. But I see no sign of anyone else. Are you two here alone?"

"We are," Yuugi said.

"And yet you identified me quickly That implies you already knew I was here."

"We did."

"And yet, none of my people are with you."

"The messenger wanted us to give them time to assemble, but we didn't want to wait. We said we'd keep an eye out for you while we were in here, though."

"They would want you to return me to the city immediately. Are you going to do so? To attempt to prevent me from completing the final trial?"

"No," Yuugi said, "but if you're going for it now, you'll be with us in there."

"I am here to complete the Trials as they were meant to be completed."

"The Trials allow for groups. If we go in together, the last trial will adjust itself appropriately."

"It can do that so quickly?"

"Surely you can feel the magic here," Nue said. "This entire temple has been infused. It's certainly capable of adapting on the fly like that."

"I suppose the magic here is likely sufficient for such a thing. And I know it can adjust based on what you do to clear each trial, although I thought the rules were all that it used for that; I didn't think it could change the actual trials that quickly. Anyways, if it can recognize how one clears the trials, it can certainly recognize that we are attempting this last one as a trio. I have to wonder how this place was even made. And why the magic needed is no longer known."

"The second question is easy to answer," Nue said. "It likely happened as a result of the gradual decline of magic, back before Gensokyo was separated. The decline was slow, happening over many thousands of years. There are very very few youkai alive today that were around before the decline began, if there are even any at all. The greater magics would have slowly become unusable, and thus eventually forgotten. We don't have to worry about declining magic now that Gensokyo's separate, but we haven't had nearly enough time to regain even a small amount of what was lost."

"I suppose that makes sense," Sechs said. "It also is not important at the moment, though. If the trial will adapt to us attempting it as a group, then I suppose it won't be necessary for be to wait until you're finished. I shall enter the chamber now."

"Let's do it, then," Yuugi said. She examined the door. "It doesn't look like there are any rules here. All it says is 'Final Trial: Shahryar'."

"Indeed," Sechs said. "I saw that myself."

"Wait, you can read this script?"

"Only on a very basic level. Enough to be able to tell what the rules have been, but little more than that."

"No rules here, though. Just 'Shahryar', whatever that means. Let's go find out what it means."

[End BGM]

This trial chamber was large. Not quite as long as most of the others, but significantly wider, and larger vertically as well. Only the first half of it had a floor; halfway through the room, the floor was replaced by a pit with sand at the bottom, the same sand from the corridors and the main hall.

"This room has the same disruption effect as the maze," Nue said. "Using familiars will be difficult. I believe I can manage a couple if I keep the close, but certainly nothing more than that."

"The room looks empty," Yuugi said. "What's the trial supposed to WHOA!"

[BGM = Nier OST: Gods Bound by Rules]

A large number of face blocks rose out of the sand. They formed themselves into four circles hovering in a stack. The bottom of the lowest circle of boxes was about even with the floor, and each remaining circle was one block-length above the one below it. The stack was positioned such that the nearest block of the bottom circle was barely not touching the floor in front of it. Four of the boxes in each ring were glowing. Those in the three higher rings were blue, but the ones in the bottom ring were pink, as the target blocks in the trials had been.

"Okay," Yuugi said, "what the hell is that thing?"

The rings began slowly rotating, and as they did, the face blocks in the bottom ring began firing shots, and not just horizontally; each block fired a vertical spread. "No aerial safe areas," Nue said as the three of them spread out and began evading the shots, "and shots are angled down into the pit, too, so no going below the shots, either. And these don't feel like the shots from the other trials. These feel more like what you see from Shades."

"So there's actual danger from these shots," Sechs said. "As I anticipated, the final trial is one of combat."

"Not our usual kind, though," Yuugi said. "I don't think just beating on this thing will work."

"The pink blocks are the targets," Nue said. She pointed her trident at the lower ring and fired a beam, keeping it steady as the ring rotated, striking the enemy and at the same time canceling out any shots heading towards her position. The first block struck was one of the targets, but unlike the target blocks in the other trials, this one wasn't immediately destroyed. It rotated out of the beam, face blocks passing through it. These were destroyed fairly quickly, but each one released a spray of shots upon destruction. These shots were black in color, and were able to pass through Nue's beam without being canceled out. And every time a face block was destroyed, another quickly rose from the sand to replace it.

The shots released by destroyed blocks were not much of a problem, so Nue kept her beam trained on the ring, sidestepping black shots as necessary. None of the target blocks were destroyed on their first pass through the beam, but two passes was enough to destroy each one.

When all four target blocks were destroyed, the ring stack stopped rotating, and the face blocks in the lower ring stopped firing and fell into the sand. The ring stack dropped so that the second ring was now in the same position as the first ring. The stack began rotating again, a little faster than before, and two of the blue blocks became pink. The face blocks on the ring began firing, doing so at a slightly faster rate. In addition, a horizontal spread was added, with fewer shots than the vertical spread but over a same-sized arc, resulting in the horizontal spread being less dense. But it was plenty to prevent Nue from repeating her previous trick.

Nue formed two green UFOs and placed them to her sides, positioned slightly back from her. She angled their beans such that they impacted each other a short distance in front of her. "I've got a safe zone here, but with this interference, I need to put enough effort into maintaining control of my familiars that I can't do much else! One of you get in the safe zone and take out the targets!"

Sechs landed in Nue's safe zone and held out her arm. A device of some kind stuck itself out from her pack and formed itself around her arm. She pointed it forward and used it, firing a laser that struck one of the pink blocks head-on. "I will handle this."

The four target blocks began alternating between blue and pink. "I would assume we cannot destroy them while they are blue," Sechs said. "Very well, then." She timed her shots carefully such that she only hit the target blocks, and only when they were pink. Each block took four hits to destroy, and when they were all gone, the ring fell apart as the first one had, and the third one lowered its position.

The third ring's rotational and firing speeds were faster than the second ring's and this time, the horizontal spread was just as dense as the vertical one. In addition, the shots began bouncing off the walls. Each shot only ricocheted once, and not at all if it hit the front wall, the one where the entrance was. Its target blocks switched states in unison, being all the same color at the same time.

The ricocheting shots meant that the green UFOs could no longer provide adequate cover, so Nue dismissed them. In their place, she formed a single rainbow UFO and set it spinning around her, spraying out its own shots. This helped significantly, but wasn't enough to completely protect her. Keeping a single familiar under control wasn't much of a problem, though, even with the interference, so Nue had no problems evading the shots it missed. Yuugi was spraying shots in front of her to cut down on the number she had to evade. She may have been firing blindly so she could concentrate on evasion, but there were enough shots that she was still clearing out quite a few of them. Sechs, on the other hand, wasn't taking any measures to reduce the shots coming her way, but she was proving herself to be quite skilled in the art of evasion, and was having no difficulty. In fact, she was aiming and firing even as she weaved through the shots. "I shall handle the offense here."

"I'll leave you to that!" Yuugi said. "I'm having enough trouble just dodging!" And sure enough, a sot soon hit her, knocking her back several feet. "Damn, that hurts! Watch out; these shots are strong!"

"I'm all right," Nue said, "and Sechs seems to have things under control, too."

And indeed she did. Despite the number of shots and lack of a safe zone, it didn't take much longer for Sechs to take out the third ring that it did the second. "That was impressive," Yuugi said.

"I may lack in raw power," Sechs said, "but skill can make up for this. As can proper equipment. And I have both. My people have long since learned how to compensate for our weaknesses. We may not have the strength or power of some, but we do have our minds."

The fourth ring spun around more quickly than the third, but its pattern of fire wasn't a simple escalation over the previous as the other rings had done. Only every other face block fired shots. They fired the shots in blocks that spread out as they traveled. Though each block fired significantly more shots at a time than the last ring, the fact that only half as many were firing, combined with a slower rate of fire, meant there were significantly fewer shots to worry about. And the shots on longer ricocheted, either. The other face blocks, however, weren't inert. Rather than firing shots, each one fired a continuous laser. They swept those lasers rapidly around the room, and the lasers did angle off the walls, four times each. And unlike the third ring's shots, the lasers were able to bounce off the front wall.

This time, the target blocks were only vulnerable one at a time. As before, Sechs did a good deal of the damage. Nue attacked the vulnerable block whenever she had a chance, but most of her efforts were focused on dodging. Yuugi, however, wasn't content with remaining evasive this time. She picked her moment and charged in, successfully evading the shots as she closed in. The lasers were a bit trickier, as their rapid movement and the number of times each could be reflected made them very hard to predict. She took a few hits from the lasers, but these didn't have the effect of knocking her back that the shots did, and she kept closing, eventually plowing into and through the currently vulnerable block, destroying it. By this point, Sechs had already destroyed two blocks, leaving only one. Yuugi, now within the ring and safe from the shots, though not the lasers, flew up to it, smashing it as soon as it became vulnerable. With all four blocks destroyed, the ring collapsed, and Nue Yuugi, and Sechs all landed, facing the pit.

"Okay," Yuugi said, "that wasn't really it, was it? Surely there's more to it than that."

"I would assume so" Nue said, dismissing her familiar.

As if on cue, an enormous number of face blocks rose from the sand, forming themselves into a humanoid torso, arms, and head. The 'head' was multiple blocks in a cube shape, and the 'hands' were blocks in square shapes. The hands were made up entirely of target blocks, all of them currently blue.

"Okay." Yuugi said, "this is different."

"I have never seen the like," Sechs said. "What is this thing?"

"A large number of blocks," Nue said. "Blocks currently in the form of a giant humanoid upper body."

"Shahryar," Sechs said. "That word on the door. It is like to be this construct's name."

"Probably refers to the block collection as a whole, and not just this formation."

"Who cares about the name?" Yuugi said. "Let's just beat this thing."

Shahryar slammed its 'hands' into the ground, creating energy waves that expanded outwards from the point of impact which all three took to the air to avoid. Shahryar swung its arm at Nue, who reacted in time to slip over the hand as it passed. Or she would have, had the blocks forming the hand not spread apart somewhat, resulting in Nue dodging straight into one and being flung into the wall. The 'head' rotated slightly on top of the rest of the construct, towards Nue, and the front layer of the blocks composing it-the 'face', more or less, though they looked no different from any of the other blocks-fired lasers directly into her.

Yuugi smashed into Shahryar's 'head' from the side, plowing through it and destroying most of it, including the 'face'. And she was moving fast enough that most of the shots spawned upon the destruction of the blocks missed her. She was hit by a couple from the last blocks as she slowed upon completion of her charge, which did knock her back, and, of course, new blocks rose from the sand to replace the ones Yuugi had destroyed, but she'd already done what she'd meant to, stopping the lasers.

Nue pushed herself off the wall. "Thanks for that."

"The lasers don't have the pushing force of the shots," Yuugi said. "They wouldn't have kept you pinned. They do hurt a bit, though. Thought I'd stop it hitting you while you were down."

"Lasers weren't that bad, but try not to let this thing smack you, because that hits hard."

Multiple blocks in the construct's 'torso' separated themselves from the main body and flew at the trio. Nue and Sechs immediately launched into evasive action, and quickly found that the blocks were far harder to dodge than the shots had been. Unlike the shots, the blocks adjusted their trajectories. "Damn homing attacks," Nue said after a near miss. "This is like fighting a Hakurei maiden."

"I have never had that experience," Sechs said.

"Well, you weren't around during Reimu's time, were you? I think she fought-and beat-just about every youkai in Gensokyo."

Unlike the other two, Yuugi didn't bother trying to evade the blocks. She waited as they approached, then simply punched through each one, dodging around the shots they spawned upon destruction. When several approached at once, she spun around, slamming her fist through them all and then leaping over the resulting shots. More blocks rose to replace the ones she destroyed, but she just kept destroying any that came at her.

It was during this time that the target blocks finally turned pink. Sechs, of course, had little difficulty firing at them while maintaining her evasion, and Nue took shots whenever she had a chance. Yuugi, however, took a different approach. Instead of destroying the nest block to come at her, she sidestepped, grabbed it, channeled its momentum into a spin, and threw it into one of the target blocks, destroying both.

The blocks composing the construct's 'face' began firing lasers again. Some of them were swept randomly through the chamber as those of the last ring had been, while others chased after their specific targets. The addition of the lasers made things harder, and Nue began to take hits. Even Sechs took a couple, though neither took hits from the blocks, as they prioritized dodging those over the less immediately damaging lasers. Yuugi simply ignored the lasers entirely as she continued to throw blocks into the targets.

Eventually, all the target blocks were destroyed. The blocks flying around the room returned to the construct, and then, as with the rings, the construct came apart, the blocks falling into the sand. "You all right, Yuugi?" Nue said.

"Yeah. A little worse for wear, though. Think I underestimated how much damage those lasers can do if you let them stay on you, but I'm tough enough to handle it."

More blocks rose from the sand. "It would seem time for the third round," Sechs said.

This time, the blocks formed themselves vertically into squares, each one having the next set inside it. The corners of all four of them were blue target blocks, and the sides were face blocks. The largest square had seven face blocks to a side, the next one five, then three, and the smallest only had one face block on each side.

The squares began rotating clockwise, and the four target blocks on the outer square turned pink. Each face block began firing a laser. These lasers swept randomly around the room, and each reflected off the walls once. "This is the third round?" Yuugi said. "Seems a lot like the first."

"Stay alert," Nue said. "There may be more to this than we've seen yet."

Though there were quite a few lasers, the fact that there was nothing else to dodge, combined with the fact that each laser only reflected once, made evasion fairly easy, and the trio had no difficulty getting shots off. They soon found, however, that these target blocks took much longer to destroy than the previous ones had. Eventually, though, the four target blocks were destroyed, and as with the rings before it, the outer square ceased movement and came apart, the blocks falling into the sand.

The target blocks on the second square all turned pink, and that square's face blocks began firing. This time, each block fired two lasers, resulting in there being more of them even though there were fewer blocks firing. Eight additional face blocks rose from the sand and took positions encircling the squares, and these blocks began firing sprays of shots. They were fairly thin sprays, though, not dense at all, and so didn't add too much to the difficulty.

The second square didn't take any longer to deal with than the first. The third one, however, was a much greater escalation over the previous that the second one had been. Each block in the square fired four lasers, there were twice as many additional face blocks, and their sprays were much denser.

"Really?" Yuugi said. "This is still basically a repeat of the first round. Is this part even necessary?"

"There must be more to this," Sechs said. "It's like this place would not provide a repeat challenge. Remain ready; I anticipate something new."

"Well, until whatever it is shows up, let's just beat on this thing."

This square took significantly longer than the others, as it was a lot more difficult to get shots off. Sechs, of course, did most of the work, with the others taking shots whenever they could, but even Sechs was having some difficulty. Yuugi took multiple hits, and Nue took a few as well. Even Sechs was hit a couple times.

_This has to be more than just greater and greater numbers of shots, _Nue thought as she slipped between two lasers. _We've already had that. And if the fourth square is as much of an escalation as this one is, there won't be room to evade at all, much less get any shots off. But these trials are about adapting, adjusting. There's a trick to this, but-of course. Of course. We're thinking about this the wrong way._

Eventually, the third ring was finished, leaving only the smallest to go. "Sechs," Nue said, "to me! Now!"

"Why-"

"Now!"

Sechs flew up to Nue's position. "Please inform me as to-ah!"

This time, each of the square's mere four face blocks fired ten lasers, and there were a lot of additional face blocks firing extremely dense sprays of shots. The field of fire was almost impossible to navigate through. Except that Nue had figured out the trick to it. She grabbed Sechs and launched into a series of evasions, carrying Sechs through them as well. "Nue," Sechs said, "what are you doing?"

"I've figured it out! I'll carry you through the field of fire; you focus on taking out the target blocks! Yuugi, I can't pull you along too without sacrificing too much maneuverability, so just evade the best you can!"

"Got it!" Yuugi said. "Sechs, take that thing out!"

"Very well," Sechs said. "If you are able to take me through this fire, I am able to destroy the targets."

They did exactly that. As Sechs fired at the target blocks, Nue carried her through the oncoming fire, and despite the density of the fire coming at them, neither one of them took even a single hit. Yuugi didn't do nearly as well at evading, but she was tough enough to take the hits just fine.

With Nue handling the evasion for her, Sechs was able to take out the targets fairly quickly. As the square and all the additional blocks fell into the sand, Nue released Sechs, and the two of them landed. Yuugi quickly came up beside them. "Nice, Nue. How'd you pull that off?"

"The squares looked like they were a repeat of the rings," Nue said, "but they weren't. I knew there had to be a trick to it; this place pretty clearly wouldn't give us the same test twice. And then I figured it out."

"That much is clear," Sechs said. "Tell us, though, what conclusion you reached."

"We were approaching it the wrong way," Nue said. "Those were real, damaging shots, as opposed to danmaku, so we were thinking of them as such. But we were wrong to. Those may have been damaging shots, but they were being used like danmaku."

"Patterns," Sechs said. "Your ability to evade so successfully was due to determining the pattern."

"Yeah. It was a very complicated pattern, but once I realized it was a pattern, I was able to figure it out."

"Then take credit for a job well done. I believe, though, that this place predates the development of danmaku by a very long time. How would it know of danmaku?"

"Because we mentioned it while going through our trials," Nue said, "and the temple asked us what it was."

"The temple-wait, _what_? The-the temple... _asked_ you?"

"Yeah, this place is kind of crazy like that," Nue said. "I figured that was why you kappa were studying it."

"We... well, we... we knew it was infused, that there was magic within it which we knew not, but not that it was capable of something such as that. We-"

"Heads up!" Yuugi said. "This isn't over yet!"

More blocks rose from the sand. This time, however, they didn't arrange themselves into any formation; they simply flew around above the pit. There were seven target blocks, all pink, and a large number of face blocks. The face blocks immediately began firing far more shots and lasers than any of the other stages of the battle. None of them ricocheted or reflected off the walls, but the numbers far more than made up for this.

"I don't see a pattern!" Nue said, the trio launching into evasive action. "I don't know if there is one!"

"Of course there's not," Yuugi said. "We already had that." She flew in front of Sechs just in time to get hit by a shot, knocking her back into the kappa. She immediately grabbed hold of Sechs and flew back to the wall. She landed, put Sechs right against the wall, then placed herself in front of Sechs, facing her. "Sechs, I'll take the hits! You take out those damn targets! Nue, you just play evasion!"

Yuugi placed her hands on the wall, bracing herself and pushing back against the force of the many shots that hit her, preventing them from knocking her into Sechs. She was hit by lasers, too, but she held up to the fire as Sechs aimed and fired. This time, the target block she'd aimed at was destroyed in one shot, so she turned her attention to the next. And then the next. And then the next, until all seven were destroyed.

This time, the blocks did not fall into the sand, instead breaking apart as others in the temple had upon the completion of each trial. Nue, a bit worse for wear, landed beside Yuugi and Sechs. "I think that means it's over."

[End BGM]

Yuugi stepped away from Sechs and immediately collapsed into a sitting position. "Are you all right?" Sechs asked.

"I... think so," Yuugi said, "but... help me remember... not to do that again."

"That was a lot of fire you took," Nue said, "and those were pretty strong shots."

"Yeah. That's a level of fire... even I would have trouble withstanding. As... you can see."

"You did well," Sechs said. "And you as well, Nue."

"You, too, Sechs," Nue said. "This place definitely took all three of us into account with that trial."

Text appeared on the ground in front of the trio. IT was more than Sechs was able to read, so after remaining seated for a minute, Yuugi pushed herself to her feet and read it. "All right, it says, 'You have completed the Trials. All three of you now receive the Mark of the Trials. It will show itself on the back of your hands should you desire it to.' Yeah, we cleared them, all right. Wait, now it's changing. It says, 'One of the creatures you have called 'Shades' that came here bore a black object. This object is now in the Temple's possession. One of you bears a tablet with other such objects placed within it, and expressed a desire to find all of them. The Temple has no use for this object, and releases it into your possession.' Um."

Nue produced the tablet. "It's right. There's a fourth one in here now. I would be stunned at this place recognizing that it's something I wanted if I hadn't already seen it do things just as crazy."

"Guess this was a worthwhile trip for all of us, then," Yuugi said. "I think we're done here, though."

"Indeed," Sechs said. "Let us return to Facade. The two of you shall be my guests tonight."

"Well, it's probably almost night by now,"" Nue said, "so yes, I think we'll take you up on that offer. We have a companion who remained in the city; can she be likewise accommodated?"

"Certainly," Sechs said. "Come."

"Yeah," Yuugi said, "let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>There are a couple reasons this chapter took me as long as it did. First of all, at over 14,000 words, it's the longest chapter I've ever written by a significant margin. And second, the Barren Temple, as it turns out, makes for a hard area to write. An enjoyable one, but a hard one.<strong>

**For those who are wondering, I did not take the actual trials from NieR, but the basic concept of 'reach and destroy the target block without getting hit while following the rules' is the same. And yes, the boss of the dungeon is a collection of blocks that behaves much like it did here, although the battle in NieR ends after the squares. And also I had significantly more shots and lasers being fired in order to compensate for the whole 'not limited to the ground' thing and the general power and ability level of the characters.**

**We've met a new character now, Oricla. I've been waiting to introduce her for a while now. She's another OC I liked the idea of. And no, I don't actually know if the markings on butterflies' wings are meant for intimidation, but I don't particularly care, either.**

**Nue now has four of the black objects, and Mokou has a fifth. With the one Yuugi has at home, that's two more that need to be found.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading, and, as always, any reviews are appreciated.**


	10. Chapter 10: Borders

**Chapter 10  
><strong>_Borders_

"So it went well, then," Levia said.

Quite a few people had been waiting when Nue and Yuugi arrived in Facade with Sechs. Fyra had cleared out the crowd quickly by citing various rules, until only she and Levia were left. She then embraced Sechs quite passionately.

After that, Sechs and Fyra took the trio into the palace, where Sechs went off separately as Fyra showed the three to the guest quarters. After she'd left, Nue and Yuugi filled Levia in on the events at the temple.

"Very well," Nue said. "I found what I was looking for, and Sechs was there, too. I also learned that I had no idea how much was lost during the decline of magic before Gensokyo's separation. Once this is all over, I'm bringing Byakuren here. Any magician would love to have a chance to study a place like that."

"Something which is quite understandable. Many, of course, would want to use any knowledge gained from such studies for themselves, but I do not believe Byakuren is one of them."

"Even I know that," Yuugi said.

There was a knock on the door. Yuugi was closest, so she opened it, revealing Fyra. "Well, hi there. Finished showing Sechs your affection?"

"What?" Fyra said. "I- I- um-"

Yuugi laughed. "I'm just having a little fun."

"Oh."

"You do care about her, however," Levia said, "and she about you. That much would be clear to me even without your earlier display of affection."

"Well, yeah," Fyra said. "We are engaged, after all."

"I see."

"Really?" Yuugi said. "There aren't any rules about who royalty has to marry?"

"There are several," Fyra said, "and I meet all of them. There's no rule that royalty has to marry royalty, though. We don't have any other royalty, so that would be a pretty stupid rule for us to have."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense."

"Anyways, as per Rule #69,004, Princess Sechs extends an invitation for you to dine with her tonight."

"Well, sure," Yuugi said. "I don't see why not."

"Yes," Nue said, "we will come. Levia here has certain requirements, though."

"She is correct," Levia said.

"Oh?" Fyra said. "Well, we can certainly accommodate that. What are your requirements?"

"Plain meat, uncooked, living or freshly killed."

"Got it," Fyra said. "I'll let the kitchen staff know." She exited the room. "See you at dinner!"

* * *

><p>While living underground, Mokou had only very rarely visited the human village. She'd been there a couple times since leaving the underground, but only briefly. Most of the villagers did know who she was, though.<p>

The layout of the village hadn't changed much over the years, but that didn't mean she knew where Nue and Byakuren lived. So she headed for Keine's home, instead.

Keine was sitting out front when Mokou arrived. "Hey, Keine."

"Mokou!" Keine got to her feet. "It's good to see you."

"Good to see you, too," Mokou said. "Nice to be around an actual friend for a change."

"An old friend, maybe. It's been quite some time sincne we've done anything more than exchange basic pleasantries."

"I've been... distracted."

"Yes," Keine said, "Nue and Byakuren told be about your, um, current situation."

Mokou sighed. "Let me guess; you're gonna tell me the same thing everyone else has, right? That Utsuho's the one who did it, not me, that I'm guilty only of not trying to stop it."

"It doesn't sound like I need to. You seem to have said it for me. And I won't talk about it if you don't want to. Although I will say that if 'everyone else' has been telling you the same thing, that might just mean there's merit to it."

"No," Mokou said, "there's not. I'm just as guilty as she is."

"She put Kaguya in there, Mokou, not you."

"It's my fault, too. I could have stopped her, Keine. She would have listened to me. All I had to do was tell her not to, and she wouldn't have."

"You know the desire for vengeance better than anyone else, Mokou, so ask yourself: do you really believe that?"

Mokou was silent for a while. "I'm looking for Nue," she said eventually, showing Keine the black object. "I think I have something she may be interested in."

"That's... yes, I think she will be. Where did you find that?"

"In the forest. A Shade dropped it. And not a normal Shade. Several times larger. I don't think anyone's seen one like that before."

"Nue ran into some sort of monstrous, grotesque one at the Aerie the other day."

"Mine wasn't 'grotesque'," Mokou said. "It was still humanoid, just a few times larger than other Shades."

"Hmm... I should inform Ari of this."

"She's been looking into these objects?"

"Among other things, yes. You want me to deliver the object for you?"

"I don't see why I couldn't do it myself," Mokou said. "I just don't know where Nue lives."

"Ah, of course. I'll take you, then. Although it's just Byakuren there at the moment; Nue's away right now."

"Looking for more of these things"

"Yes. She's in Facade at the moment."

"That's the kappa's new city, right? Way out in the desert? Seems an unlikely place to find Shades."

"Their queen was claimed by the Black Scrawl," Keine said. "Nue was hoping their research into the disease would point her in the direction of one or more of the objects."

"Ah. Yeah, that makes sense. Well, I'll just give it to Byakuren, then."

"Very well," Keine said. "Come with me, then. This way. And along the way, you can give me a little more detain on just what's been going on with you."

"As long as I can ask about how things are going for you."

"Fair enough."

"All right, then, where should I start?"

"Well, things changed for you about a month ago, right? When the Shades attacked the underground. That's when you left the Palace of Earth Spirits, I believe. Why don't you start there?"

"All right," Mokou said. "Yes, that's when things changed. I don't know what happened to Utsuho, but after the attack, she was... different. That's when she started going on about breaking out of Gensokyo and taking vengeance on the Lunarians. She went crazy, and after a few days of that, I just walked out, told her that if she wasn't going to be the woman I loved any longer, then I wasn't going to stay. She barely noticed, I think.

"So I came back above ground. My old house in the forest wasn't there any more, but I found a place that was both intact and unoccupied, so I moved in. I spent the time readjusting to living up here, and trying to figure out what I was going to do next, because I wanted the old Utsuho back, and I didn't want to let her do what she planned to do to the Lunarians. They weren't a part of anything, and if Utsuho attacked them, it would be only because she'd been unwittingly dragged into my feud with Kaguya, so it was my responsibility.

"And you decided to start by freeing Kaguya."

"I didn't expect it to contribute much," Mokou said, "but I couldn't think of anything else. And I'd realized that it was wrong to do what we'd done to her. Before, all I'd done was kill her. What Utsuho and I did, though, not even she deserved. So I got her out, brought her above ground.

"Utsuho showed herself above ground the day after that, so I went to confront her, and Kaguya came, too, even though I didn't want her too."

"That's the fight Nue and Byakuren saw."

"They only saw the end of it, but that Levia woman attacked Utsuho after we went down. But yes, that was that fight. After that, Kaguya and I went to Seafront with Byakuren's group, and..."

* * *

><p>"I must thank you, Nue," Sechs said, "and you as well, Yuugi. I do not think I would have been successful in the final trial were you not present."<p>

"The trial would've been easier if you were alone," Yuugi said, "and you did a hell of a lot in that fight. Don't underestimate yourself."

"I try not to, but I also try not to overestimate myself. And yet, I fear I did exactly that in thinking I could pass the Trials."

"You mead it to the last one on your own," Nue said. "And Yuugi's right about how well you fought. I don't think even Reimu could've handled that sort of fire as well as you did. You might actually have been a real threat to her in a danmaku battle."

"You may pay me too much credit. I have heard of what prowess she had in that area."

"The stories tend to exaggerate a bit," Nue said. "It's true that she never lost a danmaku battle, at least as far as I know, but she wasn't quite at the level the tales portray. Quite a few of Gensokyo's more powerful residents gave her a run for her money, myself included. Of course, that was before the witch showed up and they double-teamed me."

"The one known as 'the black-white'?"

"Yeah, her. Almost as skilled at danmaku as Reimu was. Her patterns were generally simpler than Reimu's, however, as she favored the brute force approach. She had enough force to pull it off, though. Anyways, yeah, I think at the very least you'd have probably been Reimu's most challenging opponent."

"I am skilled when it comes to evasion," Sechs said, "but I have not the same level of ability when it comes to offensive danmaku."

"You probably would if it were still in common use."

"Hmm... well, perhaps. We will never know for sure, though. Anyways, you have my thanks for your assistance."

"Don't worry about it," Yuugi said. "We were gonna go in there anyways."

"I thank you regardless."

* * *

><p>"Celestial-types?" Mokou said.<p>

"Yes," Keine said as the two of them walked through the village. "Tenshi was understandably unnerved when she realized it. She went back to heaven after the attack to inform her people."

"And she hasn't been back yet?"

"No. Which is expected. It's been getting harder for her to get away for a while now, and the news of celestial-type Shades can only have made the situation worse. It may be a little while before she can make it down here again."

"Didn't you say they've only been attacked, like, once? Why are they freaking out, anyways?"

"First of all, that attack was in many ways worse for them than any attack on this village was for us, as back then when the Radiance happened, Tenshi and Iku were pretty much the only celestials who were any good in a fight. We've long been used to a world with dangers, but heaven has always been a safe land. Being attacked shook them up significantly."

"Yeah, but they haven't been attacked again, right?"

"No, but the Scrawl has claimed one of them, and will soon claim another. Again they see that their land is not safe from the ills that plague ours."

"And here we are, having to worry about thinks like Shades every day."

"Yeah," Keine said. "Speaking of which, is there any chance you could remain in the village for a while? I told Nue and Yuugi that the village would be fine until tomorrow even without them, and I think it will, but some of the people are worried. Having you around would be reassuring. Could you stay here until they return?"

"Oh, hell yes. Get me the hell away from Kaguya."

"Why are you with her, anyways?"

"Because she won't leave me the hell alone. And starting earlier today, because I need her help."

"You... need her help?"

"I have to fight Utsuho, but I don't want to kill her. I'm not used to fighting for real without going for the kill."

"Ah, so you're training yourself. And you need Kaguya because she won't die when you make mistakes."

"Yeah. But that doesn't mean I have to like being around her. So yes, I'll absolutely stay here for the night. I'll need a place to sleep, though."

"I have room for you."

"I knew you would."

Keine came to a stop. "That's Byakuren's place, right there."

"That one? Larger than I expected."

"It was already there when she and Nue took up residence in it, just... suddenly unoccupied. They do make use of the extra space, taking people in when needed much as they did at the temple. Although that need has been arising much more rarely since the Radiance. One thing that happens when so many people die: there are suddenly a lot more available places to live."

"A 'benefit' we could do without."

"Undeniably," Keine said.

The two of them walked up to the door, and Mokou knocked. A few moments later, Byakuren opened the door. "Ah, Keine. And... Mokou. Hello."

"Are you all right?" Mokou said. "You look... well, not all right."

"Do not... worry yourself. I am fine."

"The pain's fairly bad right now," Keine said, "isn't it?"

"Yes. I... try to hide it, as I do not wish to... worry people, but... I often fail. It should pass soon."

"Well, this'll be quick," Mokou said. She held out the object. "I found this after dealing with a couple Shades in the forest. It looks like the things on that tablet Nue has. I thought I'd drop by and deliver it."

Byakuren took the object. "Nue is... not here right now, but I am sure she... will appreciate it."

"Hey, no problem."

"Mokou's going to stay with me until Nue returns," Keine said. "I thought having someone else of her level of power around would help reassure the villagers."

"I don't think it necessary," Byakuren said, "but I am sure the villagers will appreciate... it."

"It also means you don't have to take action yourself if the pain's too much."

"I appreciate the... gesture, but please, Mokou, do not... feel as though you need to trouble yourself on... my behalf."

"I'd have agreed anyways," Mokou said.

"I see."

"Well," Keine said, "I don't think we have any further business with you, so we'll leave you be."

"I am sorry I was in this condition when you... came."

"It's not your fault," Keine said. "See you, Byakuren."

* * *

><p>After some more searching through Eientei, Kaguya returned to Mokou's house to find it empty. <em>She's not back, then. Decided to stay in the village tonight, then. I kind of expected as much. Probably a good thing, too. Keine'll probably say the same things about Mokou's actions that I have, and she's a long-time friend of Mokou's. Maybe she can get through to Mokou. Or make some amount of progress, at least.<em>

Kaguya looked around the house. _Well, guess I'll make myself at home._

* * *

><p>The night was uneventful.<p>

Nue dreamed of Byakuren, of the days before the Black Scrawl threatened to claim Byakuren's life. A happier time for them, despite the problems brought on by the Radiance. She slept well.

Yuugi dreamed of slaughter, of all the Shades she'd killed and all those she soon would kill. She slept well.

Levia dreamed of the end of the world, the end she'd been born to bring about. The end that was forever lost to her. She slept well, comforted by the scenes of the destruction that was to have been her purpose, even though she knew it was a purpose she could no longer serve.

Kaguya dreamed of Eirin, and of Reisen, and of Tewi, of all the residents of Eientei. Of the strange, twisted location Eientei had become swallowing them up, some never to be seen again. The dreams did not disturb her sleep; she had become used to unpleasant dreams back when she had recently been exiled.

Byakuren dreamed of Ichirin, Murasa, and Shou, her lost companions who had done so much for her. She dreamed of Nazrin and Nue and herself dying, and awoke, partly in fear and partly because the pain had returned. It took her some time to return to sleep, but when she did, her dreams were pleasant ones, fond memories of her long-lost brother.

Mokou dreamed of her time together with Utsuho. Then she dreamed of her father, angry at her for abandoning her vendetta against Kaguya, and of Kaguya, seeking vengeance of her own for her five hundred years trapped within a sun. Then she dreamed of judgment, of being confronted with her sins. Her sleep was fitful.

Keine dreamed of Tenshi. She slept well.

* * *

><p>After their morning meal, Sechs and Fyra took Nue's group to the palace entrance. "You're leaving, then," Sechs said.<p>

"Yeah," Nue said. "I still have three more pieces to find, and I'm sure Yuugi's eager to hunt more Shades."

"I have my gauntlets to pick up from Nitori, too," Yuugi said.

"Farewell, then," Sechs said. "I hope you will gain visit our city. You will always be welcome here."

"I think you can count on seeing me again, at least," Nue said. "Once all this is finished with, I'm going to take Byakuren to the temple."

"So we will see you at that time. I look forward to it."

"Yeah, I'll need to go with you. Unless Yuugi feels like coming with us, but I think we could find time to visit you regardless. So I'll see you then."

"And congratulations on your upcoming marriage," Yuugi said.

"Thanks," Fyra said. "Maybe we'll invite you to the wedding."

"Hopefully I can bring Byakuren then," Nue said. "Thank you for the hospitality."

"You are most welcome," Sechs said. "Farewell."

* * *

><p>"So," Mokou said, "when is Nue getting back?"<p>

Keine, across the table from her, chuckled. "Eager to get back to the forest? I thought you wanted to get away from Kaguya for a while."

"I'd certainly rather not hve to go back to dealing with her, but I can't neglect my training with her. There's no telling when Utsuho's going to show herself again, so I can't afford to waste any time."

"I see."

"I have to do this, Keine. I'm not going to kill her, but I am going to stop her. I want the old Utsuho back."

"I understand," Keine said. "When the time comes to fight her, let me know. I'll stand with you."

"No, Keine," Mokou said. "I'm glad you're willing to, but it's too dangerous. I may be immortal, but you're not."

"I don't think you should fight her alone," Keine said. "I'm aware of how powerful she is."

"I am, too, but the risk to your life is far too high."

"Then you should ask someone else. You said Kaguya wants to fight her, too, and Kaguya is immortal."

"No."

"I don't think you'll succeed on your own, Mokou."

"Then I'll just try again. It doesn't matter how many times I have to try; sooner or later, I will win."

"And you won't accept Kaguya's aid because...?"

"Do I even have to tell you?"

"Well," Keine said, "you said you're not going to pursue your old grudge against her any longer, so that's not the reason. Given your feelings on what you and Utsuho did to her, I'd say the reason you don't want to accept her aid is fairly clear to me. It's not for my benefit I want you to say it, Mokou."

"If you know it so well, then why don't you tell me?"

"Guilt."

The resulting silence was eventually broken by Mokou. "I don't need to hear that from you."

"Because you've already heard it, or because you've realized it yourself? Well, either way, if you don't want me to say any more, then I won't."

"I already get this sort of crap enough from Kaguya. I don't need it from you, too."

"You and I are long-time friends. Kaguya has until recently been your life-long enemy. You could easily dismiss what she says, but hopefully hearing it from someone who you know cares about you will help you realize that there's merit to it. But if you want to hear no more, then that is all I will say."

"Good."

* * *

><p>Yuugi split off from Nue and Levia as they neared the human village, continuing to the mountain to retrieve her new gauntlets from Nitori. Levia went to announce their return to Keine, while Nue went straight home to Byakuren.<p>

Byakuren was seated as Nue came in, but immediately got to her feet. "Nue, welcome back."

"Good to see you, Byakuren," Nue said. "You doing all right?"

"For the moment, yes."

"That's good. Anything happen while I was away?"

"No attacks, if that's what you're asking. Mokou stopped by, though."

"Mokou? Why was she in the village?"

"She still is, actually. Keine asked her to remain until your return in order to help reassure the villagers. But she originally came to deliver something. She had a black object."

"The ones I'm looking for?"

"Most likely, yes. I set it on the table over-wait a minute, where did it go? I set it down right over there."

"It's probably I the tablet already," Nue said. "Unless someone or something has hold of it, the objects are drawn into the tablet when it's close enough." She produced the tablet. "Yes, there's another one on it now."

"So that's five."

Nue returned the tablet to the nether. "Six, once we pick up the one Yuugi has at her home."

"Two left, then. Where is Yuugi? At the tavern?"

"Actually, she's heading to Nitori's. Her gauntlets should be ready, so she's going to pick them up. Levia's here, though. She's letting Keine know we're back."

"I see. Are you going to be leaving again once Yuugi gets back?"

"Not today," Nue said.

"In that case, have a seat and tell me about Facade. I have never had a chance to visit the kappa's new home."

Nue pulled another chair over and sat down. "It's a strange place, though an interesting one. Although it's the Barren Temple that would draw your interest. It was built by the ancient Oni as a final test for new Devas, and they did things with the place that are impossible as far as anyone today knows. To start with, the entire structure is infused."

"Really? Then the ancient Oni knew how to perform infusion on a large scale."

"Yeah, but that's not the crazy part. That much we know to be theoretically possible, even if we can't do it. The crazy part is the level of awareness the place sowed. We knew going in that it had observational capabilities, as each trial is adjusted based on your performance in previous trials. And when we realized it had been infused, we assumed that was what allowed it to make the adjustments. But then I decided to test how much it would let you repeat the same tactic over and over, and..."

* * *

><p>Keine opened the door. "Ah, Levia. You've returned."<p>

"Yes," Levia said.

Mokou got to her feet. "Guess that means I'm done here."

"I was not expecting you to be present. What business brought you here?"

"I found one of the objects Nue's looking for and dropped it off with Byakuren. Keine asked me to stay in the village until you returned in order to help reassure the villagers of their safety."

"And now you are going to attend to other business. Despite your conflicting emotions, you are determined to succeed at whatever your goal may be."

"Don't you start," Mokou said.

"Ah, " Kenie said, "that's right. You have empathic abilities, don't you?"

"Mokou bears the scent of hatred," Levia said, "but-"

"Just shut up already!" Mokou said.

"Very well. You are already aware of your feelings, anyways. You simply have yet to truly accept it."

"Whatever," Mokou said. She pushed past Levia and flew away.

"...Right," Keine said a few moments later.

"You bear the scent of concern," Levia said. "You care about her."

"I do."

"Then I shall tell you this: the hatred Mokou bears is towards herself. She bears regret for past actions, and hatred towards herself for what she did."

"I gathered as much. I've known her for quite some time, after all, even if it's been a while since we spent time together. But I don't think there's anything more I can do to help her."

"Then you and I are in agreement. But do not be too worried; I believe she is beginning to come to the realization of what her emotions truly are."

"As do I. I don't need empathic abilities to know her feelings."

"I see. Well, you now know that we have returned, so I have no further business here. I shall take my leave."

* * *

><p>"Okay," Yuugi said upon entering Nitori's workshop, "just what, exactly, are you working on there?"<p>

"Something for me to use," Nitori said, not bothering to look up. "Don't worry; your gauntlets are done. I finished those before starting on this."

"Decided to go with Mitori, then?"

"Yeah," Nitori said. "Maybe not every time she goes in, but she's right; there's no reason I can't make something that'll let me fight those robots as well as she does. One second... there." She set her tools down. "All right, let me get the gauntlets for you. Let's see... I think I put them over here." She started rummaging through a pile of... well, stuff; Yuugi had no idea what most of it was. "Ah-ha!" Nitori pulled out the gauntlets. "Knew they were in there somewhere."

"Okay, how did you manage to bury those like that when you just finished them?"

"Careful practice." Nitori walked over to Yuugi and handed her the gauntlets. "Here, try them on."

Yuugi did so. "Nice fit. Flexible, too. Probably won't hurt dexterity."

"They've got good shock absorption, too, and they're a lot harder a material to be hit by than even your fists, so they'll make even your punches hit harder. Also, see these? You can slide these spikes down to the front, concentrating the force of impact into their points for maximum penetration. They can be adjusted individually, too, so you can position them differently or only have one or two down at a time instead of all four. The gauntlets also have these extendable blades on the side, if you need to cut something. I know you don't use much magic, but since you infused the gauntlets, they won't interfere with any magic you do use. And, of course, you can place them in the nether, and they will form already on your hands when you call them out."

"Sounds good. Thanks."

"You and Nue rescued my sister. You're not the one who should be saying 'thanks'."

"I'm saying it anyways."

"Fair enough."

"But yeah," Yuugi said, "these are good." She placed them in the nether. "Fine work, Nitori."

"Of course it is. They don't call me the best for nothing."

"Well, I guess I'll head back to the village now. Say 'hi' to Mitori for me."

"Sure thing," Nitori said. "Bye."

* * *

><p>"...left Facade fairly promptly, and returned here."<p>

"You're right," Byakuren said once Nue had finished. "I would like to visit this "Barren Temple'. We should invite Alice and Patchouli along as well."

"Alice might come," Nue said, "but I don't think there's anything that can get Patchouli out of that library."

"She is rather reluctant to leave, yes, but if anything could draw her out of the mansion, the level of lost magic you found in that temple is certainly it."

"Yeah, maybe. So, anyways, that's what I've been up to. What about you? You said things were fairly uneventful, right?"

"Indeed," Byakuren said. "Aside from Mokou's visit, the only truly noteworthy thing that happened was Nazrin's return yesterday."

"Oh, she's back? She found Ran?"

"Yes. Well, Chen, actually, but thanks to the shikigami bond, it was effectively the same as finding Ran. She told me about it shortly after telling Mira. According to her, Ran's going to be paying Mira a visit this evening."

"Ran's coming to Mira? Not the other way around?"

"Yes. Apparently, where she and Chen are living now is far enough from here that it would take Mira most of a day to get there, and the same amount of time getting back, far too long for Mira to be away from the shrine. So Ran will be coming to the shrine."

"I see."

"What of you? Are you going to be leaving again?"

"Not today," Nue said.

* * *

><p>That evening saw Mira sitting outside the shrine. <em>Pretty uneventful day, really. <em>_Probably true for the village, too, unless Nue's group decided to do more Shade hunting. Probably not, though. I'd guess Nue chose to spend the rest of the day since her return with Byakuren. Yuugi may have gone Shade hunting, since her goal is more to kill them than to find those objects Nue's looking for, but she's likely back in the village by now, too. Don't know about Levia, but I'd guess she was either in the village somewhere or with Yuugi. _But regardless, Mira's own day had been uneventful. _So far, at least. Depending on what she has to say, Ran's visit may prove interesting._ Mira was currently sitting outside while eating, so that she could see when Ran arrived. _And given that I've just sat down for dinner, she'll probably be here right... about... now._ And sure enough, she noticed two figures in the sky approaching.

Mira got to her feet as Ran and Chen landed. "Welcome. Thank you for coming."

"Think nothing of it," Ran said. "You are, after all, the Hakurei maiden. Looking after the barrier is your duty, and as the only person alive who knows more about it that the Hakurei clan, I am more than willing to provide what aid I can. I cannot actually affect the border, as what little manipulation I once could do was only through my bond with Yukari, but her passing does not diminish my knowledge."

"Good," Mira said. "Let's get down to business, then."

"Can we have some food first?" Chen said. "I'm hungry."

"There is food," Mira said, "but business comes first. I am postponing my own meal, as well."

"Be patient, Chen," Ran said. "Nazrin will have told her that we'd want accommodations for the night."

"She mentioned you might be spending the night here, yes," Mira said, "and I do have food prepared, but I am going to insist on speaking about the barrier first."

"Oh, fine," Chen said. "Just try and be quick, all right?"

"I will take as much time as is needed, no more and no less. Now, Ran, how much did Nazrin tell you?"

"She said you felt a change in the barrier," Ran said, "and that you suspected it may be reverting to the state it held prior to Reimu's death."

"That's right."

"Yukari did manage to say before she died that the barrier would likely revert to its prior state eventually, but I do not know when this is to happen. And given that I cannot sense the barrier myself, I'm afraid I cannot say for sure that the reversion is beginning."

"Yes, you can." Mira affixed a paper charm to Ran's chest, and a matching charm to her own. "I'm going to focus on the barrier. The charm should allow you to feel it as well while I'm doing so."

"I see. You're quite well-prepared."

"I'm quite aware that it was only through Yukari that you could sense and affect boundaries. I knew you would not be able to directly sense the barrier. Did you really think I'd ask you to comment on its state without having found some way around this? Now, quiet for a while, please." Mira focused on the barrier for a few moments. "There." She removed both charms. "What did you get?"

"I haven't actually had an opportunity to sense it since Yukari died," Ran said, "so I'm afraid I'm not sure what it's felt like since then, but... well, it is changing, I'm sure of that much. And there did seem to be a sense of reversion."

"So it is returning to its prior state. All right, then. Now for some contingency planning."

"Contingency planning?"

"Yukari had to step in when Reimu died," Mira said, "because there was no other Hakurei able to assume the role of the Hakurei maiden. Yukari's not alive anymore, so there's no backup plan if that happens again. With the state the barrier has been in since then, it would easily have remained stable for some time even without a maiden, but if it's reverting, this cannot be relied on."

"I suppose that's true. I'm not sure what could be done, though."

"Try and think of something. I, meanwhile, will begin to take steps to ensure that the current situation is only temporary, that there will always be a descendant of the Hakurei line available to assume the role of maiden. It's quite simple, really; all I need to do is make sure I have as many descendants as possible." She grabbed what remained of her dinner and began quickly finishing it. "There's food for you two inside, and your rooms are ready. Spend the evening however you want. Just make sure not to disturb me and my guest when I return."

"You're having another guest?" Chen said. "Who?"

"The first willing man. You two make yourselves at home; I'm going to go find someone to get me pregnant."

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, short chapter, I know, but I thought these scenes fit better in a separate chapter rather than tacked onto the end and beginning of the previous and next chapters. Besides, the last one was long enough already, and the next one, well, I don't really want too many scenes distracting from the main focus.<strong>

**So, anyways, not a lot of action this chapter. Some character development, though. I especially liked the dream bit. I found it a very interesting way to get a look at characters' mindsets, and in just a couple sentences for each character, too. I hope you all found it interesting, too, especially since I may well do it again.**

**So Yuugi has her new gauntlets, Nue's spent some time with Byakuren, and Levia's weighed in on the Kaguya/Mokou situation. Oh, and Mira decided to solve the potential-barrier-destabilization problem by having as many kids as she possibly can. So yeah.**

**Anyways, next up is the Forest of Myth, which should be interesting.**

**Also, I would like to once again thank everyone who's reviewed the story, and also to encourage all of my readers to do so for this and future chapters.**


	11. Chapter 11: Dreams

**Note: I'm changing how I identify music tracks. It's only the first part of the URL that this site removes (the www through the com); the rest, beginning with a /, is left intact. From now on, I'll be giving you that part of the URL, so all you need to do is add the 'www.', the 'youtube.', and the 'com'. I hope that makes it simpler and thus helps encourage you to listen to the tracks while reading, as I feel that proper music greatly enhances the story.**

**Anyways, on to the chapter.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 11<br>**_Dreams_

"You are quite dedicated," Levia said as she followed Yuugi into the tavern.

"They deserve it," Yuugi said. "I lost my home and most of my kind to the Shades."

"Yes, your hatred is quite justified. Many would not be quite as dedicated as you, though. Nue may be driven by love and concern rather than hatred, but her drive is every bit as strong as yours, and yet she spent today engaged in activities that made no progress towards her goal."

"Hey, I have to give my new gauntlets a test run. Besides, Nue has someone she loves to spend time with. I don't, so until we have another lead on those black things, I've got plenty of time to kill, and I see no reason not to take that literally."

"When what you are killing is Shades, I suppose I do not see any significant harm in it. Which is likely obvious, given that when you returned to the village and announced your intention to hunt Shades for the rest of the day, I elected to accompany you."

"Yeah, 'cause you didn't have anything better to do, either. Well, hopefully Mamizou or Ari will have a new lead for us by morning. In the meantime, I'm gonna have some food, have some sake, and then get some sleep. Care to join me?"

"I shall not have any sake myself," Levia said, "but I would certainly be willing to dine with you. I do not know where I will spend the night, though."

"You can share my room again."

"I will accept that offer, then."

"Great! Come on, then. That food's not gonna eat itself!"

* * *

><p>"So," Byakuren said, "I assume you'll be heading out again tomorrow?"<p>

"Most likely," Nue said. "I'm hoping either Mamizou or Ari will have a lead by then, but even if they don't, I probably won't just be staying here. I can't do that too often; there's no telling how much time we have."

"Just be careful."

"I will," Nue said. "And if I am going somewhere tomorrow, I'll let you know where."

"I would appreciate that. Well, goodnight, Nue."

"Goodnight," Nue said. They both lay down, and Nue was soon asleep.

…

…

_...I see a girl standing before me. A young oni, her horns not fully grown. She stares at me with hard, glassy eyes._

_Soon her lips being to move, but there is no sound; I can't hear her. I can't hear her. I can't hear her I can't hear her I can't hear I can't hear I can't I can't I can' can't can't can't can't can't I try to leave, but something about her holds my gaze._

_What is she trying to say? What would she tell me but for the lack of sound? Wait. I think I can make something out in the motion of her lips. A 'B'? Yes, it starts with a 'B'. Than an 'l'... I can almost see it now. The letters come faster and faster, falling together._

_B-l-a-c-k K-e-y_

_Black Key? Could that be... could she be referring to the objects I'm collecting? The things I am looking for, the key to saving the woman I love? I stare at her with renewed focus, trying desperately to make out her words._

_D-r-e-a-m_

_Dream? What does that mean?_

_The letters come faster now. I can't follow them. Damn it, I can't make it out! I want to scream, to rip apart the walls, to grab her and Shake her, to make her slow down and tell me what I need to know. But I do not. I know it will not help. I force myself to be calm. It is for Byakuren; I can do this. Slowly, too slowly, I parse out the letters, see her final words._

_F-o-r-e-s-t o-f M-y-t-h._

* * *

><p><em>Okay,<em> Nue thought to herself upon awakening the next morning, _what the hell was up with that dream?_

Byakuren was awake as well. "Good morning, Nue. Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough. You?"

"Quite well. No pain during the night."

"Always good to hear," Nue said. "Hopefully you won't have to put up with any pain at all for much longer."

"As much as I don't like you risking yourself the way you are, I have to say that yes, that would be quite a relief. Are you going straight to the tavern?"

"I'll sit with you while I eat, but then yes. I just hope either Mamizou or Ari has a lead."

"Not that you'll keep from your search if they don't."

"True enough."

* * *

><p>Yuugi and Levia descended from their room into the main area of the tavern to find Keine sitting at a table with Mamizou. When she saw Yuugi, Keine stood and walked over to her. "Good morning, Yuugi. And you as well, Levia."<p>

"Mornin'," Yuugi said. "Gotta say, I'm surprised to see you here."

"I think you should know of this," Keine said. "I found a-"

At that moment, Nue entered the tavern. "Hey, Yuugi. Levia. Kei-wait, Keine?"

"Nue," Keine said, "good morning."

Nue walked over to them. "What are you doing here, Keine?"

"She was about to tell us," Yuugi said. "Said it was somethin' I should know about."

"Indeed," Keine said. She reached into a pocket and produced a letter. "I found this outside my door this morning. I don't know when it was delivered, or by who, but I do know who sent it, and that would be Suika."

"Suika?"

"Well, I recognize her handwriting, but... well, here, read it for yourself."

Yuugi took the letter from Keine and read it, Nue and Levi looking in over her shoulders:

_Hi, Keine. Hope you're doing well._

_I think I should tell you about this. A lot of us here have dream concerns about recent events in the dream village. I could use dream some advice about dream it._

_Recently, we've had dream reports of dream dream a certain dream dream dream dream of dream dream dream dream dream evil dream dream dream dream empty dream curse dream dream dream dream dream evil dream dream dream dream dream dream dream dream dream dream dream dream words dream dream dream dream dream and dreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdream someone dreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdreamdream_

"Okay," Yuugi said, "I'm just gonna say this: what the fuck?"

"I have not seen a letter before," Levia said, "but even so, I believe that this one is highly irregular."

"You've got that right," Yuugi said, handing the letter back to Keine. "It's certainly Suika's writing, but... well, I think it's pretty clear what's bizarre about this."

"Yes," Nue said. "Um... there may be something else relevant. I had a very strange dream last night. I thought it was just an odd dream, but now I'm not so sure."

"A dream?"

"Yeah. There was a young girl, an oni. Her lips were moving, but there was no sound. As this went on, I became able to make out her words by carefully looking at the movement of her lips. The first thing she said was 'black key', then 'dream', then 'Forest of Myth'."

"You're right," Keine said. "That may well be related."

"It'd be one hell of a coincidence if it's not," Yuugi said. "Dreams and the forest. What's a 'black key', though? You think it's the things we've been looking for, Nue?"

"That did occur to me," Nue said, "and we do know that one of them is there."

"Yeah, at my place. Although I don't see how it'd be related to... well, to whatever this is about."

"Seems unlikely there'd be a second one there, but, well, I suppose it's worth a look. And I'd also like to know why it was me specifically who had the dream. I suppose that would make sense if the black objects are connected, but either way, I want to find out."

"So we're going, then?"

"We're going. Although you would've gone even if nobody else did."

"You're right about that," Yuugi said. "Glad you're along, though. Come on, let's get moving."

* * *

><p>"Going into Eientei again?" Mokou said.<p>

"Of course," Kaguya said. "You know the plan. Eientei in the morning, training in the afternoon. You coming with me today?"

"No."

"All right, then." _Maybe she has things to think about. Probably a good sign. Maybe someone's started to get through to her after all._ "I'll meet you back here when I'm done. Bye."

* * *

><p>The trip to the Forest of Myth was uneventful. Upon entering the oni village, however, it was very clear that something was wrong.<p>

"I see a lot of people sitting or lying down," Nue said, "but none of them are moving, and I'm not seeing anyone else."

They approached the nearest oni, sitting on a stump in front of a house. "Masaka," Yuugi said, "can you hear me?" No reply. "Masaka?"

"She may be asleep," Levia said. "What I sense from her is similar to what I sense from those who are asleep, although there is a difference that I cannot quite place. She is likely asleep, but it is not ordinary sleep."

The oni, Masaka, began muttering something in her sleep. "Be... ware... the... words..."

"...Right," Yuugi said. "The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Masaka's muttering continued. "Con... ta... gious... words... Those... who... dream..."

[BGM = /watch?v=-4QNSqnbfeI]

"Those who dream?"

"_Wait. I'm feeling... something. Some sort of sensation in my mind." Nue's voice rose in a quizzical way. "What? No it didn't. Hold on, what the hell is going on here?"_

_Perhaps we should begin by questioning this woman." Levia directed the attention of the other two towards Masaka, whose eyes were now open. She was looking not at them, however, but just staring off into space. Yuugi got her attention by waving her hand in front of Masaka's face._

_Masaka, now aware of their presence, looked the three of them over._ "_Who... who are you?"_

_"You don't recognize me?" Yuugi said._

"_You know not how this place works, Yuugi. Before your name was given, I knew not that it was you. Only now can I see that it is."_

"_What the hell are you talking about?"_

"_That is how the dream works. And since I am talking to you, it is quite clear that you are caught in the dream."_

"_You're not making much sense."_

"_Then I shall elaborate." And she did._

_In the past weeks, a disease called the Deathdream spread throughout the oni village, those who caught it falling asleep, trapped within their dreams. Just as it was determined that the disease spread through spoken words, the last few villagers fell asleep._

"_Hold on," Yuugi said, "so you're saying we've been caught in your dream?"_

"_Well, yes."_

"_We didn't even go to sleep. How are we dreaming?"_

"_That's just how the Deathdream works. You hear the disease's words, and you're in the dream. The words are everything here. I'm sure you've noticed them. You see them, but at the same time it's as though you do not. You hear them, but at the same time it's as though you do not. You see only what the words say."_

"_Um..."_

"_Allow me to demonstrate." She pointed. "Yuugi, just keep looking at me. You other two, look over there."_

"_What are we looking for?" Nue asked as she and Levia did so._

"_Nue and Levia, is it?"_

"_Wait, how did you know our names?"_

"_Because the words said them. You saw the words, right?"_

"_Strangely enough, yes, I did. Or at least I _think _I did."_

"_By having you two look, the dream revealed your names as it narrated your doing so. Perhaps it did so before I was aware of your presence here, as well, but as I was not aware of your presence, neither was I aware of the narration of it. Yuugi, you look now, too." Yuugi did so. "Now look beyond. We are in the village. The dream needs not to tell us so, for it is where we already are. You entered the dream from the village, so you were already here. But look beyond the village, and you will see very little. A forest, yes, because it's known that we're in a forest, but it's a generic one. It's simply a collection of trees. You see none of the specific details of this specific forest."_

"_She speaks true," Levia said._

"_The words brought you here. But which words? Think, you three. You must have heard something. What were the words?"_

_The three of them thought hard, but there was no easy answer. There were simply too many words to consider. Too much random chatter, too many meaningless conversations._

"_I do not take part in meaningless conversations." The suggestion that Levia chose her words carelessly seemed a blow to her pride. "No, it is not. I was simply providing a correction."_

"_Focus," Nue said. "We need to think."_

"_No, we don't," Yuugi said. "Why the hell are we even having to think about this at all? We didn't have the Deathdream until now, so it couldn't have been anything we said. It has to be some part of what Masaka said in her sleep, and she only spoke a total of eight words! Why are we treating this like some big question?" Despite her words, however, she knew it to be a difficult mystery to solve. "No, it's not! In fact, I'm pretty sure I've already figured it out!" But she had not. "Yes, I have! The contagious words are probably-" Yuugi took a step forward as she spoke- "I did not!" -she stepped forward, tripped, and fell flat on her face._

"_It appears we are to think on this more," Masaka said._

_Yuugi climbed to her feet, her displeasure easy to see. "This is bullshit. I already know what put us in this dream, so why the hell can't I say it?"_

"_Wait," Nue exclaimed, "that's it! 'Dream'! It was 'Those who dream'! That's the last thing we heard before falling asleep!"_

"_Oh, come on! Why the hell are you allowed to say it? This is bullshit!" Yuugi screamed up at the sky. "No, I'm yelling at _you_!"_

"_Yuugi," Nue said, "please stop arguing with the narration. I don't think it's getting us anywhere."_

_Masaka, meanwhile, was going through a stack of papers. "Yes, 'those who dream'. I think you're correct. That's one of the likely phrases my research has come up with."_

"_Research?"_

"_I'm stuck in this dream. I might as well try to learn about it."_

"_Though I certainly applaud the dedication it takes to research a disease in your sleep, perhaps your efforts would be better spent trying to find a way out of the dream."_

_Masaka merely let out a sigh. "I've tried to find a way out, but there isn't one. I mean, I would know, wouldn't I? Since it's my dream."_

"_You should not assume that," Levia said, but Masaka simply brushed aside the remark. "Not a wise decision. What I have to say is of value to you."_

"_Then say it," Masaka said, though she in no way meant to actually pay attention. "Well, shit."_

"_Yes, do remember that this place allows us to view its narration."_

"_Fine, I'll listen. There's no way you, having just come into the dream, would know more about it that I, but I'll let you say whatever you have to say anyways."_

"_What I have to say is simple: you claim that you would know of what is within your dream. Have you forgotten that this is not, in fact, your dream, but the Deathdream?"_

"_The Deathdream caused it, but it is still mine."_

"_Then how is it that we are here with you?"_

"_Because you got caught in... my..."_

"_If we are asleep as well, then this is not just your dream. Do not presume you know everything within it."_

"_I... think you're right. Oh, god, I think you're right! I might be able to get out of here after all!"_

"_I certainly have no desire to remain here. I will go to seek out an exit. Nue, Yuugi, I assume you will come with me." They both nodded._

"_All of you will go? It's been so long since I've spoken to anyone else. I was hoping one of you could remain here with me."_

_Nue looked at Masaka, then nodded. "Wait, no I didn't." "I'll remain with you." "Hold on! I did NOT say that!"_

_Yuugi laughed. "Who's arguing with the narration now?"_

"_Narration is one thing, but now this place is putting words in my mouth." "I'm willing to stay, though, Masaka." "No, I'm not! Stop making me say that!"_

"_It matters not," Masaka said. "I think I'd rather come with you. Not that I don't appreciate the offer, even if you did make it against her will." She got to her feet. "Shall we go?" Then she immediately sat back down, choosing instead not to go. "Never mind. It would seem I'll be staying here."_

"_Then what was the point of that entire conversation?" Yuugi said. "It's like this place is screwing with us for its own amusement."_

"_I get that feeling myself at times," Masaka said. "In fact, I don't have any desire at all to have one of you remain here, but this place made my say I did."_

"_You took it a lot more calmly than Nue."_

"_I'm used to it. Now go, before anything else happens."_

"_Sure, but where? I'd rather not just hunt randomly. Who knows how long that could take?"_

"_I do not know, of course. I don't suppose any of you can think of anything that might provide a clue? Anything I or another may have muttered in our sleep? Some word or words?"_

"_A sheep?!" Nue cried, simply blurting out the first thing that came to mind._

_The other three just looked at her. "Excuse me?" Yuugi said._

"_I have no idea why I said that."_

"_Because the words made you," Masaka said. "Now, do you have any clues?" The three of them thought, but came up with nothing. "Ah. Well, then, I guess you'll just have to pick a direction and go."_

"_Unfortunate," Levia said, "but it appears we have no-" Her words cut off as she felt something. Some sensation, some momentary pulse that faded as suddenly as it came._

"_A pulse," Masaka said. "Perhaps that is the way you should go, towards it. Can you tell what direction it came from?"_

"_I can. Nue, Yuugi, let us go."_

_Masaka watched as the three of them set off into the forest. _Strange. Yuugi's the only one of them I know, and yet I feel as though I've seen that 'Nue' woman before. But where?

_..._

[BGM = /watch?v=f-tASTKrNYY]

_They walked through the forest._

_They continued walking._

_They kept going._

_They kept on walking through the forest._

"_Okay, already!" Yuugi said. "We get it! Damn, how long is this going to take? Why does this place have to be so goddamn big? And why the hell aren't we flying? Even going slow enough to be safe in this forest, It's be a hell of a lot faster. Not to mention less tiring."_

"_Right," Nue said, "like this is tiring you out. Maybe a human would have difficulty walking for so long, but not any of us."_

"_Still a pain in the ass. Why can't we just fly?"_

"_I guess because the words say we're walking."_

"_I hate this place. Why the hell won't it let us go faster? Hell, we don't even know if we're going the right way! And the odds are that we aren't."_

"_We just have to hope we made the right choice, I guess." Although in the end, it mattered not which way they chose; that which they sought would find them regardless. "Good to know. Although I'm not sure how an exit is going to find us."_

"_What I want to know" Yuugi said, "is why we had that conversation at all when, thanks to Levia, we already know we're likely on the right track. And that kind of thing isn't the only thing that's bullshit about this place. I mean, all I can see are generic trees, and all just because the damn words haven't bothered to describe anything! That's just dumb." Little could be seen, though. The ever-present mist restricted visibility significantly. "And it responds by giving us mist to deal with. Now I _know _this place is just screwing with us."_

_Moss-covered rocks littered the ground, strewn around as though by a child and easy to trip over, thanks to the poor visibility. Vines wrapped around the trees like they were trying to strangle them. Others hung down from branches or stretched between two trees, providing an additional hazard."Really? Vines? Come on. This is a forest, not a jungle, for shit's sake." Yuugi, with her constant complaining, was proving to be an incredibly poor traveling companion. "Oh, shut up."_

"_I don't think the complaining is helping much, though," Nue said._

"_Yeah? Well, I don't care. To hell with this place."_

_At that moment, a cacophony if insects sprang to life, as though the forest was infuriated with her lack of respect. The sounds blended together at a volume that was almost unbearable. "Damn it," Yuugi said, "what now?" But she might as well have been shouting in a tornado. Her words were inaudible, and though the could see their mouths moving, no sound had a chance of making it through the noise. And then, suddenly, the volume dropped, still not at all quiet but no longer drowning out all other sounds. "Apparently this place has a vengeful side."_

_Nue, now that the noise was down to a bearable level, listened closely._

Zree! Zree! Zree! Zree!  
>Shak-k-k-k! Shak-k-k-k! Shak-k-k-k!<br>Chk-chk-chee! Chk-chk-chee! Chk-chk-chee!  
>Woo-woo-wooma! Woo-woo-wooma!<br>Shik shik seeek! Shik shik! Shik Shik seeek!

"_I don't think that was in response to you. There's a pattern of some sort to the noise."_

"_I can also hear it," Levia said, "though I am not sure what it means."_

_Nue listened more closely. _Yes, this certainly isn't just random noise. It's... something else.

[BGM = /watch?v=qh-gSBrenVQ]

_The insects weren't just making noise; they were asking a question._

One with it suffers. Two with it is ideal.  
>Three with it is dangerous. What is it?<p>

"_Okay," Yuugi said, "I'm just gonna come right out and say it: what the fuck?"_

"_It appears as though the forest is asking us a question," Levia said._

"_Yeah," Nue said. "A riddle. And an easy one, too."_

"_I was more referring to how we're hearing anything in this random noise. There aren't any words, any patterns, anything. I can only hear the riddle within it because the words say it's there."_

"_Let us answer the riddle," Levia said._

One with it suffers. Two with it is ideal.  
>Three with it is dangerous. What is it?<p>

"The answer is...a secret."  
>"The answer is...a woman."<br>"...How the hell should I know!?"

"_Right," Yuugi said. "I should have saved my 'what the fuck?' for this. _Why_ is it giving us a list? It's not like we have to point at the right answer or something. We can just say it."_

"_Then I'll do just that," Nue said. She stepped forward, facing further into the forest as she spoke. "The answer is... a secret."_

[BGM = /watch?v=f-tASTKrNYY]

_The noise stopped as suddenly as it began, and the forest undergrowth parted before the trio. "Looks like I'm right."_

"_I would say this is crazy, but compared to everything else, the forest making us a path actually seems completely sane. Of course, there's no guarantee we actually want to go down it."_

"_It's better than wandering around aimlessly. Besides, the narration did say that the exit would find us, and _something_ certainly just found us."_

"_I am in agreement with Nue. Let us follow this path."_

"_Yeah, I guess I think it's the right idea, too. That doesn't necessarily mean it is, though. So let's be careful."_

"_Agreed."_

_They continued through the forest, eventually coming to a river. "Are we going to have to swim, or is this stupid place actually going to let us fly over?" Nue picked up a rock and skipped it across the water. "And why are you doing that?"_

"_I don't know."_

_Their attention turned to the rock as it first skipped off the water, as upon doing so, a musical note rang out through the area. Each time the rock struck the water, a new note sounded. Once the rock ceased skipping, the ripples from its impacts ran together, forming words in the water._

[BGM = /watch?v=XZhlBiSWAfs]

I enter through the window, but I break no glass.  
>When night falls, I vanish. What am I?<p>

"_Another riddle," Nue said. "And another easy one, at that."_

"_Just answer it, then. You don't have to tell us how easy it is; just say the answer."_

"_I tried to."_

"_...I hate this place."_

I enter through the window, but I break no glass.  
>When night falls, I vanish. What am I?<p>

"A bird!"  
>"A letter!"<br>"Sunlight!"

_Nue stepped forward again. "Sunlight!"_

"_I see something over there," Levia said, pointing. The other two looked, spying a small cottage amongst the trees. "I do not believe it was there previously."_

"_Then let's go take a look."_

_They walked over, and Yuugi knocked on the door. It soon opened, revealing a woman concealed in a black cloak, her face obscured by mist. Before any of the trio could say anything, she began to speak._

I have four legs in the morning and two at noon, but I end  
>the night with three. What am I?<p>

"_One more riddle, then," Nue said. "And not exactly a hard one."_

I have four legs in the morning and two at noon, but I end  
>the night with three. What am I?<p>

"A man."  
>"A demon."<br>"An angel."

"_A man."_

[BGM = /watch?v=f-tASTKrNYY]

_The woman threw aside her cloak, and the mist obscuring her face cleared, revealing her identity. "Wait," Yuugi said, "Masaka?"_

_The woman shook her head. "No. Or at least, not the Masaka you know." She faced Nue. "Listen to my words. Long ago, I saw a version of you that was not yourself."_

"_What are you talking about?"_

"_You will understand eventually, For now, just know that I congratulate you for breaking the seal on the Deathdream. Return to Masaka now." She closed the door, and mist rose up around the cottage, enveloping it. The mist then cleared, but the cottage was nowhere to be seen._

_..._

_They flew carefully through the forest. "About damn time."_

_They soon made it back to the village, and immediately sought out Masaka, who stood as the three landed. "You're back!"_

"_Don't get too exited," Yuugi said. "You don't even know if we were successful."_

"_I'm just glad you're all right!"_

"_This place is making you say that, isn't it?"_

"_Yeah. I didn't know if you'd succeed, but in no way did I expect you to come to any harm. So, how did it go?"_

"_We broke the seal, I think," Nue said, and proceeded to describe what had transpired._

"_'A version of you that was not yourself'? What is that supposed to mean? And why did this... person, or whatever, look like me, anyways?"_

"_You know more about this place than we do. I think you're the best able to figure that one out."_

"_Hmm... this may sound strange, but-"_

"_Masaka," Yuugi cut in, "after all this, I don't think I'll find anything else strange ever again."_

"_Maybe. Anyways, Nue, as you were leaving, I got the feeling that I'd seen you before."_

"_You probably have," Nue said. "I've been all over the place in my life. Wouldn't surprise me if you've seen me before, even if we haven't actually met."_

"_I don't know if that's it. I was certain I had never seen you before, but I can't shake this sense of... familiarity. At first, I thought it was just the dream being its usual self, but the feeling has persisted. I'm not sure if there's anything to it, or if I have that sense even now only because the dream said I did."_

_With that said, the four of them laid down on the ground to sleep. "Okay, hold it! Why the hell would we just go to sleep? That doesn't make any sense!"_

"_I would think that by now you have learned that it is futile to fight against the the words say we shall sleep, then we shall sleep."_

"_It's strange," Masaka said. "This is the... first time... I've felt tired... since the dream... took..." Her words were cut off as she and the others fell asleep._

_..._

...

[End BGM]

"Okay," Yuugi said as she and the others awoke, freed from the dream, "I know I've said it before, but: what the _hell_ was that?"

The four of them all got to their feet. "We are out," Masaka said. "Excellent. Hopefully, everyone else is waking up now what is this?"

Nue immediately recognized the object that appeared in front of them. "That's one of the pieces we're looking for! Was it caught in the dream, too?"

"How would that work?" Yuugi said.

"I don't know, but there's no way it's a coincidence that the object appeared just as we woke up. There's some connection to the dream, clearly." _I wonder if that's why I had that dream last night. Maybe the dream somehow reached me briefly because this piece was part of it and I had five of the other pieces. Or maybe not. I may never know._

Only Masaka was surprised when the object vanished. "What?"

"It was drawn to the tablet," Nue said, producing said tablet from the nether. "Yes, see? There it is."

"Looks like the one I had at home got drawn in, too," Yuugi said. "That's two at once."

"Which makes seven. Only one more, then."

"I don't know what those are," Masaka said, "but if you're looking for all of them, then I wish you luck. And let me know if I can help." She looked around the village, seeing others awakening from their own dreams. "Let any of us know. You've done us quite a service, you know. Maybe you came for your own reasons, but we still owe you, so please, if we can help you at all, let us know."

"If I need your aid," Nue said, "then I shall do just that. Yuugi, is there anything else you want to do while we're here?"

"Maybe say hi to a few people, check on my place, that sort of thing. You don't need to stay with me, though."

"I think I will anyways. Levia?"

"I shall also remain."

"Right," Yuugi said. "Come on, then, I'll show you around."

* * *

><p><strong>Well, that was fun.<strong>

**Right, so I should probably explain. In NieR, when you go to the Forest of Myth, you soon find yourself drawn into the Deathdream. While in the Deathdream, the game briefly turns from a hack-and-slash-y game into a text adventure. Yes. A goddamn _text adventure_. And in that text adventure, it is soon made apparent that the characters are indeed aware of the narration, just as Nue and the others were here. I dod do things a bit differently, though. See, part of the... effect of the sequence in NieR stems from the sudden change to text, but since this story is all text, the impact there is lessened. So I played up the fourth-wall breaking to a much greater extent in order to compensate for this. I did the same basic sequence from NieR (the introduction in the village, the trek through the forest, the riddles, then back to the village), though; I just added more fourth-wall-breaking.**

**Yeah, I may have enjoyed that a little too much. Not that it was easy; in fact, this chapter was easily the hardest one I've ever written, even with a script of the scene from NieR to use as a guide. That's one of the reasons this chapter is so short, the other being that I didn't want to include any more other scenes than absolutely necessary; I wanted the focus to be squarely on the Deathdream. As a result, either the next chapter will be much longer or I'll end up splitting it into two chapters. I'm not yet sure which I'm going to do; it'll depend on how much the additional scenes are adding to the length.**

**Anyways, I definitely encourage reviews, even more so than usual given the... unusual-ness of this particular chapter. Please, all of you reading this, tell me what you think.**


	12. Chapter 12: Above and Below

**Note: I don't know how many of you have been listing to the BGM tracks I've been providing, but to those of you who haven't: _listen to the BGMs for this chapter._ Or at least the first of them.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12<br>**_Above and Below_

Ran and Chen had left fairly promptly in the morning, but not before Mira'd had a chance to speak to them. "I'll be calling on your aid when I'm with child," she'd said, "as it will make performing many of my duties more difficult. I expect I'll be able to handle the shrine itself, but my other duties, not so much."

"Yes, it likely would be best to stay away from combat while pregnant, even without the potential for hindering your performance."

"And then I'll have a child to raise. And that child will be far from my only. I may need your aid for a significant period."

"I told you I would aid you as I could," Ran said, "and I meant it. You know where to find us now; send word when the time comes."

That had been in the morning; it was now later in the afternoon, and Mira was once again in the village. As had been the case the day before, she had one fairly simple objective. She was hoping to accomplish it without running into the one she'd taken back to the shrine yesterday, but unfortunately, he was there when she arrived in the main market, and he approached her as soon as he saw her. "Well, hi, Mira."

"Koro."

"What brings you here today?"

"The same thing that brought me here yesterday evening."

"Oh, indeed? I'm glad to hear it. I have some business to take care of, but-"

"You can stop there," Mira said, "because I have no intention of choosing you again."

"E-excuse me?"

Mira sighed. "I told you yesterday, Koro. There is not, nor will there ever be, anything between us. I have no intention of pursuing a relationship with you or anyone else. I am interested only in bringing forth children. And I specifically said that I would be choosing someone different every night."

"I thought-"

"That I was just saying that? That I would treat you differently? That I would be taken with you? It didn't take long at all for me to see the extent of your ego. The assumption that I would change my mind and 'choose' you is something I knew you would have. I was hoping I wouldn't see you today so that I could avoid having this conversation. But you're here, so I will tell you this: you mean _nothing_ to me. You never will mean anything to me. As I told you yesterday, the only reason for last night was that the future of the Hakurei bloodline must be secured."

"So, what, you don't care who your kid's father is? You're telling me you'd be okay about raising a kid with some random person? Because I don't believe you. I don't think you'd want to have a kid with me if you didn't see anything in me."

"I won't be having a kid 'with you', even if it is from you that I have one. I will not even know for sure from who I have any children. And it matters not, for they will not be the children of two people; they will be children of the Hakurei clan. That will be who they are, will be _what_ they are. And you, Koro, will have absolutely nothing to do with any of them, even if I do have a child from you."

"But-"

"I told you all of this yesterday. If you failed to realize that I meant every word of it, that is your problem. Now, please leave me to my business." Mira walked away, leaving Koro stammering, and resumed her search for another willing man.

* * *

><p>"You're leavin' again, huh?"<p>

Yuugi, accompanied by Nue and Levia, had visited a few people and they'd also checked on Yuugi's house. Their last stop was Suika's.

"Yes," Yuugi said. "I came back to help deal with the situation here, but now that it's been resolved, I'm going back to hunting Shades."

"Well, try to stop by here sooner this time, okay? Or, wait, better idea: I'll come to you. You're stayin' in the human village, right?"

Yuugi nodded. "I'm staying there while I'm helping Nue."

"Yeah, I kinda thought so. I'll stop by sometime soon. You make a better drinking partner than almost anyone else, and it's been a while since I've been there, anyways."

"I look forward to it. I'll see you then, Suika."

"Bye!"

* * *

><p>Kaguya got to her feet as soon as she had both of them again. "A little overenthusiastic there, I think. Unless you want Utsuho down to one leg, of course."<p>

"That cut would not have carried all the way through against her. She is, as I've mentioned before, significantly more durable than either of us, and her capability to recover is high. To her, that strike would have had no long-term effects."

"I know she can take more than me, but even she has her limits. Although I guess you would know them better than me."

"Indeed." Mokou returned her sword to the nether. "I think that's enough for today. We'll resume after tomorrow's Eientei investigation."

"Very well," Kaguya said.

"That was quite impressive."

The two of them turned to face the speaker. "Kagerou," Mokou said. "I wasn't expecting to see you here. Especially not today. I thought you didn't like being out when the moon is full."

"I don't, but the change only happens at night. I was on my way home when I heard your battle, and I got curious, so I came to have a look."

"I see."

"It is starting to get late, though, so I think I will continue home."

"...That was random," Kaguya said as Kagerou left.

"Who cares? I'm heading home. I assume you'll be coming with me."

"Indeed. Lead the way."

* * *

><p>"It sounds like you had an... interesting experience," Byakuren said. Nue had returned, and had just finished telling Byakuren of the day's events.<p>

"That's one way to put it. I think Yuugi, though, prefers something a bit more... explicit."

"What would cause something like this 'Deathdream', though? It's clearly no ordinary illness."

"We don't really know, but there's a possibility that one of the black objects had something to do with it. It appeared once we awoke."

"Hm... well, we do know little about them, but if one of them caused it, I would expect you to have felt effects from the ones you've been gathering."

"It may still have been part of the reason, though."

"Perhaps."

"Anything happen while we were away?"

"No," Byakuren said. "Today has been uneventful. About the most interesting thing that happened her was Sakuya visiting the village." This was infrequent, but far from unheard of; the Scarlet Devil Mansion was largely self-sufficient, but occasionally something from elsewhere was needed. Thus, Sakuya was sometimes seen in the village on a supply run. "Also, Keine came by briefly, as she often does around this time."

"Right, it's the full moon tonight, isn't it?"

"Yes. She often feels somewhat guilty around this time."

"There's nothing she can do about all this, and she knows it."

"True, but hearing someone else say it can be helpful."

"I suppose that's true enough," Nue said.

* * *

><p><em>Keine may not have to hide what she is anymore, but she does still have something to hide. Very few know of the ability that comes with her change on nights of the full moon. Mokou knows, and Tenshi, of course, also knows, as do Byakuren and I. Ari knows, and Nazrin. Mira knows, as well. But I don't think anyone else does.<em>

_Along with Keine's transformation comes the ability to alter history. Were this to become known, she fears she would become the most hated person in the village, and she is likely right. The people would demand to know why she hasn't changed history to prevent the Radiance from occurring, and though some would understand why she cannot do such a thing, most, I fear, would not._

_It's easy to think that Keine's ability allows her to change whatever she wants, but this is not the case, as the ability does, of course, have several limitations. The first and most significant of these is that Keine cannot simply make a blanket change. She can only alter specific occurrences. Any occurrence can be altered, no matter how large or small, how significant or insignificant, but it has to be a specific occurrence. She can's, for example, say that a thief has never actually stolen anything, but if she knows of a specific theft, she can change that. Or, if there is a specific event that led to the thief becoming a thief, she can change that. But whatever the event, in order to change it, she must know of it. That's the next limitation. Simply knowing that a specific event happened is not enough; Keine must know what happened, where it happened, and when it happened. Those two limitations are why Keine cannot change history such that the Radiance didn't happen. She can't just say that it didn't happen; she would have to change the event or series of events that caused it. And nobody knows what those are. But even if Keine did know the events that caused it enough to change them, she probably still would not do so._

_Keine can change history, yes, but she cannot directly control what comes of her changes. She can precisely alter an event, but what effects it has are beyond her control. Say, for example, that a man was killed. If Keine knows this event well enough to change it, she can. She could make it so the killer decided at the last minute not to kill, or can make it that the attempt to kill simply failed. That one change could potentially have significant effects. Perhaps the murdered man was himself a killer, and once he isn't killed, he has the opportunity to kill more people. Those people, who lived originally, would die because of Keine's change. Anything they would go on to do, they no longer would have the chance to. Any children they would have had would not have a chance to be born. Nor would their children's children, or their children's children's children, and so on. Many people would no longer have existed, and anything those people would have done they would not have the opportunity to. There would be other people to take on their roles, yes-it matters little precisely who grows the crops, so long as they are grown-but they would not be the same people. Perhaps the differences would be minor, but even minor differences can, in great enough numbers or over enough time, have major effects. And those effects are essentially impossible to predict. That is why Keine does not change history even where she can._

_Now, it's not true that Keine never changes history, as there is one thing she does change: her own year of birth. Every year, she moves it forward one year. She used to do this to hide the fact that as a half-beast, she would age far more slowly than humans. She doesn't have to hide than any longer, but she still makes that change every year, as it allows her to maintain her youth. And, of course, ensures that she will never die of old age. Such a change is minor enough that it takes effect despite a significant discrepancy; specifically, the fact that her altered year of birth is now far after her parents' death. She can get away with it because of how minor a change it is, and because the change is localized to her. Aside from that, however, she does not change history, and likely would not even do so to prevent the Radiance. The effects of preventing such a major event would be extreme, and although the result may well be an improvement, the 'what if's leading to negative results are what Keine would focus on._

_Even given these unknowns, one might think Keine could simply reverse the change if the results were undesirable. And theoretically, she could, but there's somewhat more to it than that. For one, there's no guarantee that she'd still be alive; the new course of history may be one in which she dies at some point, and if that was the case, it would carry over to her, and she would no longer be alive. Or, if the change was before she was born, she may never have existed at all. Her mind remains the same after a change-she does gain whatever knowledge her new self would have, such as knowledge of what the new course of history actually was, but she retains her current self and knowledge, making her the only one who knows a change was made-but her body becomes whatever it would be in the new timeline, whether injured, dead, or otherwise._

_In addition to this, reversing a change is not so simple. In order to return history to its additional course, the changed event must be restored to exactly how it originally transpired, or there's no guarantee history's course will return to precisely what it was before, and she usually does not know that level of detail about an event. She doesn't need that level of knowledge in order to change an event, and that level is almost impossible to attain-even if she was there, she likely wouldn't remember it perfectly. Even when she alters an event, she doesn't have to fill in all the details; she simply changes the important parts, and history fills in the rest._

_That is why Keine does not change history. In the case of the Radiance, it's a moot point anyways, but many people would likely not understand this. Byakuren, of course, is rather more optimistic about people's likely reactions, but I think Keine is more correct in this case. Regardless, it's what she believes, and that is why even though she doesn't hide the fact that she's a half-beast any longer, she does hide the ability this condition gives her._

* * *

><p>The evening was uneventful, as was the night. The next morning saw Nue, Yuugi, and Levia paying a visit to Ari in hopes of more information, as Mamizou had no leads for them.<p>

"Nue, Yuugi, Levia, welcome," Ari said, leading the three into their house. The four took sets around Ari's worktable, which, as before, had various books and papers strewn around.

"We're out of leads again," Nue said. "Do you have any?"

"Not about the black fragments. How many do you have left to find?"

"Just one."

"You're making significant progress, then. If these fragments are important to the Shades, they may be taking measures to protect the final one."

"Taking measures? Are they capable of that kind of thought?"

"There've been a few signs," Yuugi said. "The coordinated attack they made on the village while you were in Seafront, for one."

"Mokou's seen coordination among them as well," Ari said, "according to Keine. Mokou told Keine what she'd been up to, and Keine shared a few things with me, including the fact that Mokou and Kaguya encountered a group of Shades in the forest that waited for reinforcements before attacking."

"So they may be actively hiding it from us," Nue said. "Great. Any idea where to start looking?"

"Not as such, but I may have some clues. Look at this." Ari showed Nue and the others a page of notes she'd taken. "I usually don't bother to take notes, but all this stuff came from different sources. It's just fragments, nothing that's exactly clear, but it was enough for me to infer this design." She indicated a sketch she'd made of a pentagonal object. Or a frame, more accurately; the middle of the object was not filled in. It was like a ring, which Ari's notes estimated to be a few inches wide, but in the shape of a pentagon rather than that of a circle.

"What is it?"

"I believe it's a key. Or, rather, that a key goes in it. There's a depression in the middle, going all the way around. One that's divided into five parts."

"I may be jumping ahead here," Yuugi said, "but _please_ tell me you aren't saying we have to go on a second scavenger hunt."

"If you were to use the key, yes, but there's no knowing where the five pieces are. What I can tell you is that the key is related to the Shades. And I think they have the pieces, although I have no idea where. If they are taking measures to secure the final black fragment, then they most likely have it at wherever the key is required to gain access to. You need the black fragments because you believe them to have a function related to the Shades and/or the Black Scrawl, an unknown function, a function that cannot be accomplished otherwise. But the key is different. A key has one and only one function: to open a lock. The only thing you need to find is the location of this lock."

"And we'll need the key to open it."

"Or you can use the direct approach," Ari said. "If the lock barring your way is physical, break through it. If it's magical, find a magician capable of dispelling it. If it's a combination of physical and magical, then do both. You, Yuugi, are well suited to breaking through a physical barrier, and as for magical locks, Byakuren is one of the greatest magicians to have ever lived, and to my knowledge the single greatest one that still does. I doubt any magical lock you encounter would be beyond her abilities. I expect that if you can locate the lock, you will find little difficulty in breaking it."

"And if I can't break it," Yuugi said, "Suika almost certainly can. There's not much she can't break, thanks to the whole going giant thing. So we don't need the key. We just force out way through this lock. I like it."

"We need to find it first," Nue said. "Any leads, Ari?"

"Not yet, but I feel certain the information is here. The more I look, the more I find that I had no knowledge of. They're just fragments, bits and pieces, but they are there, and the more I look, the more I find. I don't know where they came from or why they're within my records, but I intend to keep looking until I find answers. This may take some time, though."

"I'm not just going to sit around waiting for who knows how long," Nue said.

"I expected as much. Your best option, then, is simply to travel around Gensokyo. If the eighth piece has not been secured, you may find it, but even if it has been, by searching throughout Gensokyo, you may just find something yourself that leads you to the lock."

"There are still areas we haven't been to," Nue said, "some of which have very little habitation-Muenzuka, for instance, or the Nameless Hill. Today, though, I think I'm going to stay in the village with Byakuren."

"Then I guess it's Shade hunting for me," Yuugi said. "There may not have been any new reports of unusual Shade activity, but there are always some of the things around. Levia?"

"I believe I will accompany you, Yuugi."

"You do your things, then," Ari said. "When I find something, I'll let you know."

* * *

><p>It was another uneventful day.<p>

Mokou and Kaguya, as they had been, spend the morning in Eientei and the afternoon training. The issue of Mokou needing aid against Utsuho came up, but as usual, Mokou paid Kaguya no heed.

Yuugi, accompanied by Levia, spent the day hunting Shades.

Nue spent the day in the village with Byakuren, for whom the pain came and went throughout the day.

Keine spent the day handling her normal responsibilities as _de facto_ leader of the human village.

Mira spent most of the day at the shrine. Later afternoon found her in the village again, finding another man to take back with her for the night.

Ari continued her research, certain that the answers she sought lay within the unknown additions to her records. She knew she could find them, but she didn't know when. She wanted to find the answers in time to help Byakuren, but she didn't know how long it would take, and there was no telling how long Byakuren had left. She would find the answers, she was certain, but she did not know if she would find them in time.

* * *

><p>When Nue and the others met at the tavern the next morning, Keine was once again there waiting for them. But this time, she has another with her. "I have not seen that woman before," Levia said. "She bares the scent of pride. Who is she?"<p>

"Someone I didn't expect to see here," Nue said. "That's Sakuya Izayoi. She's the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, a mansion by the Misty Lake. And she does indeed take pride in her role."

As soon as she saw the trio, Sakuya left Keine and walked over to them, her attention focused on Levia. "You must be the one," she said. "I am Sakuya Izayoi, head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion and servant to Remilia Scarlet. You are Levia, correct?"

"That is my name," Levia said. "How do you know it?"

"I was in the village briefly the day before yesterday. I heard talk of you. They say you are able to sense the presence of Shades. Upon my return to the mansion, I informed my mistress of what I had heard, and over the course of the day yesterday, the issue of asking your aid was considered. Mistress Remilia is a very proud woman, not accustomed to seeking the aid of those outside the mansion and quite unfond of doing so. That being said, I'm not surprised she decided to seek your aid, given what's at stake here. In fact, if I was surprised by anything, it's that it didn't take longer for her to reach that decision."

"Maybe you should tell us what she wants," Nue said.

"Indeed. As you may not know this, Levia, the mansion is home to a vast library known as Voile."

"Voile's larger on the inside than it is on the outside," Yuugi said, "according to what I've heard. Apparently, Sakuya here did some sort of screwy space-time... stuff."

"Hardly the most elegant of explanations, but accurate enough. Yes, I am responsible for the expansion of the library past its physical boundaries, or at least its capacity to be so expanded; Patchouli, who is in charge of the library, is the one who formed its actual layout within that expanded space."

"What is it that you desire for me to do there?" Levia said.

"Something has been interfering with the library's space. A portion of it has become warped. A small portion, but that warped space is larger within than without, even more so that the library. Or so it seems, at least, but it's impossible to truly tell. The warped space is further warped by being within my own spatial alterations. Its form is inconsistent, its space fluctuating. It changes constantly, fluctuates, folds back on itself."

"Given that you specifically mentioned my ability to sense Shades, I believe it prudent to assume you believe that Shades are responsible for this distortion."

"There is little doubt," Sakuya said. "They are within the distorted space in significant numbers."

"Let's get to the main issue here," Nue said. "Remilia didn't send you here to ask for aid because there are Shades in the library. She and the rest of you in the mansion are more than capable of dealing with Shades. Why does she need our aid?"

"I cannot affect the distorted space. I cannot normalize it. Patchouli believes there is something within the space that is causing the distortion, something the Shades are responsible for, and that the best course of action is to remove this object. But our efforts to find this object have failed. It's barely possible to keep going straight within that space; finding anything within it just by searching normally would be next to impossible."

"That is why you are here to ask my aid," Levia said. "You are hoping that my ability to sense the Shades will allow me to sense whatever it is that they are using to create the distorted space. That it will enable me to make my way to it, even through the fluctuations of the space."

"Yes."

"You're still not telling us everything," Nue said. "Maybe Remilia would ask for aid eventually, but not this soon after learning there was someone who actually could aid her. Given the situation as you've described it, it would be weeks, maybe even months, before she'd ask for aid. What aren't you telling us, Sakuya?"

Sakuya was silent for a moment. "Mistress Remilia would rather her reasons be kept private, but I can tell you this: we have reason to believe there is something within that space that is of great importance to Remilia. She wants the space normalized so that what she seeks can be found."

"Nue," Yuugi said, "I get wanting to know as much as you can, but you already know the Shades are involved, and that's enough, right? You're going."

Nue nodded. "Of course I am. Should I assume you will be, as well?"

"Yes. Of course, it sounds like Levia's the important one here."

"I will go as well," Levia said."

"There you go, then," Nue said, turning back to Sakuya. "We'll come to the mansion."

"Excellent," Sakuya said. "How soon will you be ready to depart?"

"As soon as I let Byakuren know where we're going."

"I can do that," Keine said.

"Works for me. In that case, let's get going."

* * *

><p>Keine walked with Nue's group and Sakuya to the edge of the village, and watched as they flew away. <em>Highly unusual. What could be in that distorted space that Remilia wants so badly?<em>

Sakuya and the others were soon out of sight, but before Keine could turn to head for Bykuren's place, someone else came into view, heading towards the village. The individual was coming from the general direction of the mansion, but from higher in the air than anyone from there was likely to fly. Keine's first thought was that it was someone from the mountain, which lay beyond the mansion, but no, the figure's angle of approach indicated that it was coming from well above the mountain. _A celestial. It has to be someone from Heaven. But that's not Tenshi. And Tenshi wouldn't approach carefully like that, anyways. No, this one's coming in like she's here officially. She has to be a messenger, but why send a messenger? Tenshi comes here all the time, and they've been using her to carry any messages. They haven't sent anyone else here since my relationship with Tenshi began. So why are they doing so now?_

Keine didn't have to wait for very long, as the celestial soon landed gracefully in front of her. "I am a messenger of heaven," she said. "I come with a message from Lady Iku Nagae for Keine Kamishirasawa. You appear to match the description I was given; are you her?"

"I am," Keine said. _Iku's a messenger herself, isn't she? If she's not using Tenshi, why wouldn't she deliver the message herself?_ "What message do you have for me?"

"As you are the effective leader of the human village, I have come to inform you, Keine Kamishirasawa, that in light of recent events, the realm of heaven is withdrawing completely from the world below."

It took moment for the messenger's words to truly register with Keine. "Wait, _what?_"

"Several hundred years ago, we broke our isolation and began interacting, though infrequently, with the world below. The decision has now been made to return to our previous isolation."

"I- what- why- you-"

"For as long as it has existed, heaven has been free of the ills of the mortal world. But now, those ills are beginning to enter our realm. Heaven's purity must not be lost; it is essential for the achievement of enlightenment. From now on, we will go back to the old ways. The only entry into heaven will be ascending to the state of a celestial, and celestials will not leave heaven, with the exception of messengers bringing warnings of truly dire calamity."

"Hold on a minute. This is crazy."

"The decision has been made," the messenger said. "It is not my place to question it. I am simply a messenger. Lady Nagae insisted that you be informed of this decision. She would have brought the message herself, but her other duties prevented this, so she sent me in her place."

"But... but what about..."

"Your relationship with Tenshi? Though both you and she might wish otherwise, you will, unfortunately, be separated. You will, however, be able to see her again if you ascend to the state of a celestial yourself."

"But... why? Why are you..."

"As I said, heaven's purity must not be lost. Two of us now have fallen victim to what you call the Black Scrawl, the only two celestials ever to fall victim to disease. And then Tenshi brought word that the Shades have begun taking our forms in addition to yours."

"That's why?" Keine said, her voice quiet. "That's why you're isolating yourselves?"

"The Shades are clearly a danger. Heaven's purity is at risk."

"No, it's not. You have two deaths from the Black Scrawl and there being Shades that look kind of like you, and you panic and shut yourselves away?"

"The current situation is a danger to heaven."

"Like hell it is!" Keine's voice was no longer quiet. "We face more danger every day than you celestials have since the Radiance and the first Shade attack! You know, Tenshi would always complain about the attitude of all of you, but I always tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. But she was right, wasn't she? You're just a bunch of self-important assholes. I thought Tenshi's difficulties were just a sort of culture clash, that most celestials were just different than her, but no. Turns out she understands you people a lot better than I thought."

"I realize this news upsets you, but we cannot risk heaven's purity."

"Just shut up! This isn't about your goddamn 'purity', it's about you people being so locked into your nice, cozy little world that you can't handle even a minor disruption!"

"I understand that-"

"Just shut up! You don't understand a damn thing! None of you do! Your perfect little realm got shaken up, and you're all scared. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that. Done here, we deal with fear every day. But do we panic? Do we hide somewhere and pretend everything's normal? No. We deal with it. And most of us here are just humans. You can handle far more than we can, yet at the first sign of danger, you panic."

"I... we aren't... heaven must- I'm sorry to have to bring you this news. I realize this news is saddening, and Tenshi isn't any happier than you are, but sometimes sacrifices must be-"

"You wouldn't know sacrifice if it was shoved up your ass! You think you're so 'enlightened', but you're just a bunch of cowards. If you can't handle even just two people dying, then you know what? Go hide yourselves and pretend everything's fine. Just know that if you're willing to abandon the rest of the world because of something so insignificant compared to what we face every day, then you're not so damn enlightened after all, are you? Go back to heaven, and tell everyone who's willing to abandon us that they can just go fuck themselves!"

"I-"

"_Just go the fuck away_!"

The celestial stood in silence for a few seconds, then turned and flew away. Keine watched her leave, then collapsed to the ground in tears.

* * *

><p>When Mokou and Kaguya stepped outside to head for Eientei, there was something waiting for them. A swarm of insects, arranged in the shape of words. <em><span>She has emerged.<span>_

Mokou shoved Kaguya back into the house and slammed the door in her face, then turned back to the insects. "Where is she?"

The insects rearranged into the shape of an arrow.

"Thanks," Mokou said. "I'll ask again shortly." Then she flew off through the forest in a random direction.

Kaguya exited the house again shortly after Mokou left. _Well, she clearly didn't think that one_ _through_. "Let me know when she stops trying to lose me, please."

The still-present insects assumed a new formation. _You will go, too?_

"This is my fight, too. Mokou just isn't willing to accept it. I'm sure she left in a random direction, not where you told her Utsuho is. She's trying to prevent me from following her. Clearly didn't think this through, or she would have realized that you can give me the same directions you give her."

_Indeed._

"I'll show up once she's already in battle. She'll complain, but she'll be too busy fighting to do anything more than that. So let me know when she actually starts heading towards Utsuho, please."

_I will._

"Thank you."

* * *

><p><em>The Scarlet Devil Mansion has changed little since the Radiance. There's only one way in, which makes it easy to keep the Shades out, and the SDM has always been fairly self-sufficient. Sakuya will occasionally come to the village or head up the mountain if she needs something-although with the kappa having moved and the tengu being extremely anti-everyone but themselves, there's not much on the mountain anymore that anyone at the mansion would want-but these trips are fairly uncommon.<em>

_Most of those in the mansion are fairies, and they're as insignificant as most fairies. Only a few of the residents are worth mentioning, beginning with the mistress of the mansion, Remilia Scarlet._

_Remilia is a vampire. Stories of vampires are common in the outside world-or were before the border was strengthened and Gensokyo was isolated, at least-and their ubiquitousness has led to confusion about what vampires actually are. This is especially true in regards to vulnerabilities. Vampires do tend to be over-sensitive to sunlight, but it does not kill them. It is, however, very unpleasant, so they tend to avoid it when they can, although for some, Remilia included, a simple umbrella is enough to protect from its effects. A stake through the heart can kill them, but then, the same is true of humans. And it doesn't have to be a stake; destroying the heart in any way is likely to be fatal. It does take a lot more force to get to the heart, though, as vampires are physically quite tough. Not on the same level as oni, perhaps, but certainly above humans and even most youkai. In fact, sufficient physical damage in general can kill them; it just takes a hell of a lot more than it does for humans or most other youkai, although again, vampires are not on the same level as oni._

_Vampires do not have any weakness to garlic, and the same is true of so-called 'holy' symbols, such as the cross. The are able to change into bats, with some, including Remilia, being able to change into a swarm of bats. No turning into mist, though, or rats, or wolves, or anything like that. They have no inherent hypnotic abilities, although given the range of powers possessed by various humans and youkai, it's quite possible that some past or current vampire does have that ability; it's simply not an inherent ability of vampires. And vampires are certainly capable of entering a home uninvited; even they have no idea where that rumor came from._

_Remilia is not the only vampire within the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Though many do not know it, she has a sister, Flandre. Flandre is extremely dangerous and somewhat... unstable, so she's kept in the mansion. She spends most of her time in the basement, though she is allowed elsewhere in the mansion. Although 'allowed' isn't really the right word. Flandre realizes, at least on some level, that she is unstable, and remains in the mansion, and for the most part in the basement, by choice._

_Sakuya is the head maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The other maids, however, are fairies, and thus of strictly limited use. They do contribute, but Sakuya does much of the work herself. Fortunately for her, her temporal manipulation ability allows her to do a lot of work in very little time._

_Sakuya is supposedly human, but humans cannot live as long as she has. Some think she is in fact not human, while others believe that her temporal manipulation is what has allowed her to live for so long. Personally, I think the answer is somewhere in the middle., that her temporal manipulation contributes but that she is also part youkai. Not necessarily half youkai, or even one quarter youkai, but enough to somewhat lengthen her lifespan, which, coupled with effects of her temporal manipulation, extends her lifespan greatly._

_Unlike Sakuya, Patchouli Knowledge is not a servant of Remilia's despite living in the mansion. She is in charge of the library Voile, and hardly ever leaves it. She's a very skilled magician, but her physical frailty limits her ability. She has her familiar, Koakuma, perform any physical tasks she needs done._

_The only other notable resident of the mansion is Hong Meiling, the gatekeeper. She once had a reputation for being lazy and bad at her job, but the reality of the situation is now more apparent. True, she was often easily defeated by intruders, but that was primarily because normally the only intruder was Marisa. Now, Meiling's usual opponents are Shades, and since they cannot overpower her has Marisa could, she now has plenty of opportunities to show her skill._

_The mansion has had little difficulty with Shades. Since there's only one entrance, there's no way for a second group to show up and get in while Meiling's busy with the first, and she's almost always enough to handle any that show up. And if she's not, there's plenty of aid available within the mansion. Remilia, Sakuya, and even Patchouli-health permitting, at least-are all quite capable in battle, and Flandre is on an entirely different level than even Remilia. There's no shortage of combat power among the mansion's notable residents, and fairies resurrect on death, so nobody there has much to fear. Gensokyo has changed a lot since the Radiance, but the Scarlet Devil Mansion remains largely the same. Until now, that is, as it sounds like the Shades may finally be encroaching on the mansion, and the residents have been unsuccessful at removing them. Which, of course, is where we come in._

* * *

><p>Byakuren stood when she heard a knock at the door. <em>Didn't think it would be quite so long before Nue told me her plans for the day. Wonder what kept her. <em>But when she opened the door, it was to find not Nue, but Keine. And it was plain to see that something was very wrong. "Keine?"

"Nue and the others are going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion," Keine said, her voice soft and flat. "They asked me to let you know."

"Keine," Byakuren said, "what happened? Are you okay?"

"No."

"Come in, Keine. Talk to me."

"I... thank you."

Byakuren led Keine inside, sat her down, and then sat herself down right next to her. "All right, then. Can you tell me what happened? Don't feel like you need to rush it. You can let it out slowly if you need to."

"The celestials are isolating themselves, so they're forcibly separating me and Tenshi."

"...What?"

"A messenger came right after Nue left, and told me that..."

* * *

><p><span><em>It's time.<em>

"Good," Kaguya said. "Which way?"

The insects arranged into the shape of an arrow, then formed words again. _Move quikly. Mokou will arrive before you._

"Also good. As I said, I want her to be in battle already when I get there."

_She should be._

"Good. Thank you for the assistance, Lady Nightbug."

Kaguya took off in the indicated direction.

* * *

><p>Since Sakuya was with them, Meiling made no attempt to challenge Nue's group as they entered the mansion, where Remilia was waiting. "Mistress Remilia," Sakuya said, indicating Levia, "this is the one."<p>

"So you are the one who can sense the Shades," Remilia said. "Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I am Remilia Scarlet."

"It would seem they were right," Levia said. "The scent of pride is indeed quite strong on you."

"...It seems you lack an understanding of proper social niceties."

"I was asleep until recently, and I was never meant for anything but destruction."

"So I understand."

"She may be a bit direct," Yuugi said, "but I like that about her."

"It can be a valuable trait sometimes," Remilia said. "I can be direct myself, if need be. And in this case, I most certainly would like to get straight to business."

"Yes, that much is apparent," Levia said. "The scent of pride on you is quite strong, but another scent is stronger. Who is it that you're concerned about?"

_Of course._ "I should have known," Nue said. "This is about Flandre, isn't it?"

* * *

><p>"It's difficult to accept that the celestials would do such a thing," Byakuren said. "They're supposed to be enlightened, but truly enlightened people would not cause such suffering in others."<p>

"'Enlightened' my ass. They've just shown their true colors."

"I can understand choosing to re-isolate themselves, but forcing you and Tenshi apart is wrong. They should have at least given her the option to leave heaven and stay with you."

"That would be accepting that she's not like them, and she's been trying to tell me for along time, they simply can't do that. Hell, the bitches probably think they're _helping_ her."

_I doubt they were as uncaring in their decision as Keine thinks, but this is not the time to say so._ "A possibility, yes."

"I just... I love her, Byakuren, and now I can't see her. I don't know what to do."

"I'm afraid there's no simple solution to this one," Byakuren said. "And I don't know how much help I can be. But rest assured that if there is something I can do to help, I will."

* * *

><p>Remilia led Nue's group into the library. "We have reason to believe that within the distorted space is a text that, among other things, relates to my sister's... unstable condition. We think it may contain something that can be used to help her."<p>

"Right," Yuugi said. "And how is it that you didn't know this book was in here until now?"

"_Ari_'s been finding stuff she didn't know was there," Nue said, "and she has perfect memory over multiple lives. And a much smaller collection than this library, almost all of which she wrote herself."

"You're speaking of the current Child of Miare, correct?" Remilia said. "She's about the only person who could know every single book in here. Patchouli does an excellent job, but there are limits to what even she can recall. And it's also quite possible that the text in question hasn't always been there. You said that the Child of Miare has been finding new material among her collection; Patchouli has also been finding material she does not believe was here previously. She doesn't have any idea how it got here, though."

"What Ari's been finding seems related to the Shades. She's also found mentions of something called 'White Chlorination Syndrome', which may be connected. I don't suppose Patchouli's found anything on those topics, has she?"

"Interesting," Remilia said. "You know of White Chlorination Syndrome?"

"Not really. Just the name. Why? Do you know something?"

"Very little. Ah, there's Patchouli."

Patchouli was seated at a table with a book open in front of her and several others around the table. Another woman was at another table nearby. Yuugi recognized her as Alice Margtroid, and several of her dolls were moving around her, most carrying various seemingly-random items. There was a lot of stuff on the table, as well, including a pair of unfinished dolls, as well as a few books, presumably from the library.

Patchouli looked up as the group approach. "Ah, Remilia. These are our guests, then? I recognize Yuugi-it was a long time ago that I saw her, but she's one of only two Oni I've ever seen, and so is easy to recognize-but I am not familiar with the other two."

"We've met," Nue said, "although you didn't know it, since I was in the form of a fairy at the time. Nue Houjuu."

"Wait," Yuugi said, "why were you pretending to be a fairy?"

"Wanted to get a look around the place. It was shortly after I got out of the underground. I looked around all over Gensokyo. I'd been gone for a thousand years, after all. I wanted to see what the place was like after so long."

"You obviously caused no disruption, then," Patchouli said, "or else I would remember." She turned to Levia. "You, then, must be Levia."

"I am," Levia said.

"And you can actually sense the Shades?"

"I can."

"Interesting. Nobody else can. Why would you be able to? Hmm... well, I can consider that after speaking with you. Alice, you should greet them, too, should you not?"

"I heard their introductions," Alice said, not looking up from her work.

Patchouli turned back to Nue's group. "I apologize for her attitude. Over the years, she has become... well, obsessive."

"She has a singular desire" Levia said. "The scent of it on her is very strong, eclipsing all else."

"It used to be just a goal," Patchouli said. "She desires to create a doll that is alive. This has been her goal since before the Radiance, and she's kept working towards it ever since. But after more than five hundred years without success, it has become an obsession."

"Is she here often?" Yuugi asked.

"Yes. She often does research here, looking for anything that might help her along. She does take a few books with her sometimes, but most of her research she does here, as she often doesn't know what books she might need."

"Thought you didn't like that sort of thing. Isn't that why you were always pissed off at Marisa?"

"Marisa was a thief. Alice asks my permission and always returns what she borrows."

"This isn't important," Nue said. "Patchouli, Remilia just mentioned White Chlorination Syndrome. What do you know about it?"

"Very little," Patchouli said, "but enough to draw Remilia's attention. All I know is this: White Chlorination Syndrome sometimes induces insanity in its victims. I was recently made aware of a text within this library that should provide more information. It appears to be a publication of research findings. I'm given to understand that it is titled 'On the Effects of White Chlorination Syndrome and the Restoration of Destabilized Minds'."

"That's what this is about," Nue said, turning to Remilia. "You think there's something in there that might help Flandre."

"Yes," Remilia said, "I do. Her condition is not a result of this 'White Chlorination Syndrome', but her mind is indeed unstable. If unstable minds can be restored, I must know how."

"But you can't get this text yourself. It's in the distorted space, isn't it? That's why you were so willing to ask for aid. It's for your sister."

"I'm the one who saw it in that space," Sakuya said, "but the distortions prevented me from reaching it, and we haven't seen it again."

"So Levia locates the source of the distortion and we take it out, normalizing the space and allowing you to find this text."

"Yes," Remilia said. "Will you do it?"

"I'm here for the Shades, and that distortion is where they are. I'd be going in anyways. So yes, we'll do it."

* * *

><p>Mokou caught up with her target over the ocean. "Utsuho!"<p>

Utsuho came to a halt and turned to face Mokou. "Mokou. Are you here to fight me again?"

"I don't want to, but I don't seem to have a choice. Why are you doing this, Utsuho?"

"You know why. Kaguya killed Satori."

"She's responsible for my father's death, too, but you don't see me trying to kill everyone she's ever known."

"If you had, maybe she wouldn't have done it again."

"Don't give me that. Yeah, what she did was bad, but we more than paid her back already. And we kept it to her. Yes, you might hurt her by attacking the Lunarians, but you'll also be killing a lot of innocent people. Far more than she ever got killed."

"It's Kaguya's fault, Mokou. How do you not understand that?"

"Utsuho," Mokou said, "Satori's death is her fault, but your retaliation? That's your doing. The deaths of anyone you kill will be on you, not Kaguya."

"Don't give me that! She's the one who brought it to this!"

"No, you brought it to this! Going after Kaguya herself is one thing, but her people did nothing wrong!"

"She's one of them! That's connection enough!"

"This isn't like you, Utsuho. I know you, have known you for five hundred years, and the woman I see now is not the Utsuho I know. What happened to you? Why are you suddenly so obsessed about this after all this time?"

"Because I saw her," Utsuho said. "Satori."

_That_ caught Mokou off-guard. "You- wait, what?"

"While I was at the reactor. She was there."

"She'd dead, Utsuho."

"So? Spirits show up down there all the time."

"And you think she was there as a... spirit... that's what this is about, then. You saw a spirit you thought was her. A vengeful spirit. And so you think this is what she wants."

"She told me."

"Those spirits can't talk, Utsuho. They can't communicate with us."

"She still told me."

"Even if that's true," Mokou said, "it wasn't actually Satori. Vengeful spirits are born from people's anger and hatred, but they are not those people. They're simply manifestations of hatred, indistinguishable from each other."

"It was Satori, Mokou. I _know_ it was her."

"And that's why you want to break through the Hakurei Barrier, get to the moon, and start destroying things. Because you think it's what she wants."

"It is what she wants. She wouldn't be a vengeful spirit if she didn't want vengeance. Trapping Kaguya in a sun didn't appease her. Just hurting Kaguya directly isn't enough."

"You know, Utsuho," Mokou said, "I've known for a long time that you aren't nearly as stupid as people think you are, but you're certainly acting that stupid now. Satori wouldn't want you to do this. You knew her well enough to know that."

"She does want it. She told me."

"I don't know what you heard, but it wasn't her."

"It was. And I'm going to do what she wants."

"You know what this means, Utsuho. You know I'm not just going to let you do this."

"I won't stop."

Mokou drew her sword. "Then you know I have no choice."

* * *

><p>"Kinda looks like it's shimmering," Yuugi said, "but aside from that, it looks pretty normal."<p>

"It's not," Sakuya said. She and Remilia had led the trio to the distorted area, which all of them were now standing before. "Once we enter, this will become much easier to tell."

"You're coming with us, then," Nue said.

"It is well that she does," Levia said. "I may be able to sense the source of this distortion, but even so, we may well find ourselves unable to reach it."

"Because of how everything's distorted in there."

"On your own," Sakuya said, "you would have no control over where you were going. Even if you can sense the source, this will mean little if the distortions prevent you from reaching it."

"But you can affect the space to some extent."

Sakuya nodded. "To some extent. I cannot do much, but at the very least, I can force a straight path."

"So Levia points you in the right direction, and you make sure we keep moving in that direction."

"Yes."

"Works for me." Nue turned to Remilia. "Are you coming, too?"

"I want to," Remilia said. "I very much want to. But..."

"The space reacts differently to her," Sakuya said. "It becomes... aggressive, as though it's trying to trap her. She's been in twice, and both times it was only with great difficulty that I was able to get her out. Normally, forcing a straight path is enough to guarantee you will reach an edge of the space and exit from it, but when Remilia entered, it resisted my efforts to do so. And most energetically. It's as though the space wants her trapped within."

"Why her?" Yuugi asked. "Why just her?"

"The most obvious possibility," Remilia said, "is that this reaction stems from the fact that I am a vampire, though I of course have no way of truly knowing if that''s why."

"As much as she wants to come," Sakuya said, "Remilia believes it is best that she remains outside the distorted space. This will be difficult enough as it is; we certainly do not want the space further complicating matters by becoming so aggressive."

"Sounds like a good idea," Nue said. "All right, then. Let's go in."

"Stay close to each other," Sakuya said. She stepped into the distortion, and Nue, Yuugi, and Levia followed.

As Sakuya had said, the distortion was much plainer to see from within it. The shelves were positioned seemingly at random, and often in sections; a shelf might have sections taken from the middle and placed against the opposite shelf, or in a path between shelves, or floating overhead, or fused with other sections, or sunk halfway into the floor. Some shelves were curved, while others were on their sides. And some sections were fragmented, as if they had turned to glass and shattered, the shards hanging in the air after being rearranged at random.

"Well, then" Nue said.

"It's worse than it looks," Sakuya said. "There's a lot you can't see. There's no guarantee that you'll actually reach something you're walking towards; even simply going in a straight line is almost impossible here, at least under normal circumstances. I, however, can force a straight path."

"We just need to tell you which way we need to go. Levia?"

"It is difficult to tell," Levia said. "The energy of the Shades exists throughout this place. I do, however, have a slightly different sense from that direction." She pointed.

"Good," Sakuya said. "I'll make sure we actually go in that direction. You confirm we're still on the right path. Yuugi, you're responsible for dealing with any bookshelves or other things that are in our path. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Kaguya approached the battle from under the water. 'Flying' through the water was harder than flying through air, but it was far easier and faster than ordinary swimming. Approaching from under the water did slow her pace, but she didn't want to risk being noticed by Utsuho or Mokou until she arrived. She couldn't make them out as clearly from under the water, but the light from their attacks was impossible to miss, and once she got close, she could make out their positions well enough.<p>

Kaguya waited for her chance, and took it immediately when it came. She shot out of the water, the splash masked by the sounds of the battle, and came at Utsuho from behind. She sent lasers into Utsuho, then slammed into her feet-first, sending her flying towards Mokou. Mokou, thanks to instincts and reflexes honed over more than a thousand years of battle, reacted immediately, delivering a kick of her own to Utsuho's face. This wasn't enough to counteract Utsuho's momentum, but it did knock her over, allowing Mokou to jerk upwards, then land another kick on Utsuho's stomach as the raven passed beneath her, sending her plummeting towards the water.

Mokou spared a glance in Kaguya's direction. "What the hell are y-" She was cut off as Ustuho, propelling herself with a blast from her control rod, slammed into her. Utsuho formed nuclear energy into a blade and spun around, cutting through Mokou's neck. Mokou's now-separated head and body fell into the water as Utsuho turned to face Kaguya.

"An amateur mistake," Kaguya said, keeping her eyes on Utsuho. "Sloppy. She's better than that."

"You again, as well?" Utsuho said. "Why now? There's no way you two are cooperating."

"She doesn't want me here, but that's not about to stop me from showing up. You want to harm my people. I'm not going to just stand by and watch."

"This is your doing, Kaguya. You killed Satori. I'm merely paying you back."

"Then do it to me," Kaguya said. "I'm the one who killed Satori. Take it out on me."

"That's not enough for her. She wants more."

_'She'?_ "Who wants more?"

"The one you killed. Satori wants vengeance, and I will give it to her."

_She's nuts. Great._ "I won't let you."

"Kaguya," Mokou said as she rose from the water, "what the hell are you doing here?"

"Back to life," Kaguya said, careful not to look away from Utsuho. "Good. You should've gone for a surprise attack, though. Try to focus, please. This is going to be hard enough even at our best."

Mokou, too, kept her eyes on Utsuho. "There's no 'us', Kaguya. No 'our'. This is my fight."

"She intends to attack my people. You know very well that this is my fight, too."

"I told you to stay out of this!"

"I'm not going to. Which means you have to make a choice: either fight Utsuho, or try to fight her while also attacking me. And I think you know how badly you'll lose if you go with the second choice."

_She's right. So which is more important, Mokou? Dealing with Kaguya or getting Utsuho back?_ But she already knew the answer to that question. "Don't think I'm done with you, Kaguya."

"As long as it waits until after this."

[BGM= /watch?v=FVCArhmall8&list=PLF3sECcU-eWy1gxwlz8XyO2Q7MdLyiK6d]

"You would ally with her, Mokou?" Utsuho said.

"Hell no. And trust me, when this is over, I intend to kick the shit out of her. But you're more important to me than she is, so you come first."

"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend'," Kaguya said, "at least until that common enemy is defeated."

"You're still an enemy. Just a less important one. If you want to attack my higher priority, then do it, but once I'm done with her, it's back to you."

"Don't think this will allow you to win," Utsuho said.

"I'm not letting you do this, Utsuho," Mokou said. "If you still mean to try, then you'll have to go through me."

"Then I will. High-Tension Blade!" Utsuho charged Mokou with her control rod held out in front of her, energy from it formed into a much cruder but far larger blade shape than before. Mokou dashed to the side and tried to bring her sword down on Utsuho's control rod, but Utsuho had left spheres of energy behind her which came quickly at Mokou, forcing her to move away to evade. Kaguya fired more lasers, but this time Utsuho formed an energy barrier that deflected them.

Utsuho formed several miniature suns and set them spinning around herself. Mokou flew right through one quickly enough that even its nuclear fire couldn't overwhelm her own ability, striking at Utsuho's side with her sword. Utsuho raised her control rod to block Mokou's strike. Kaguya passed between two of the suns and targeted Utsuho's wings with her own sword. Utsuho rose above her, aiming the control rod at Kaguya. "Giga Flare!"

Kaguya and Mokou both dashed away. Mokou managed to avoid the massive beam completely, but Kaguya was struck at the edge of its radius. The hit hurt, but she was knocked out of the path of the beam as it struck the sea, blasting a spray of water into the sky and evaporating even more into steam.

Mokou flew right back in, aiming for Utsuho's wings herself, but Utsuho blocked Mokou's strike with her control rod. Mokou went lower, then mid-body, then low again, striking all over, but Utsuho blocked her every time. Then Kaguya came in from Utsuho's left, forcing the hell raven to block with her control rod-free arm. Kaguya lodged her blade in Utsuho's arm.

The miniature suns circling Utsuho faded away. Utsuho formed a sun with herself at the center, forcing Kaguya to pull her blade out and both her and Mokou to back away quickly. Utsuho kept the sun stationary, firing a barrage of beams and other shots from within it, randomly-aimed but numerous. "Not fair," Kaguya said as she and Mokou took evasive action.

"Just stay where you are," Mokou said. "I've got this."

Mokou circled around the sun, positioning herself opposite Kaguya. _Much larger than those earlier ones, but still within my abilities._ She focused her power around herself and flew into the star as fast as she could. She couldn't see within it, but she could sense the where the fire bent around Utsuho's body, still in the sun's center, and she collided with Utsuho, carrying the hell raven out. All within the couple seconds she was able to keep the sun's fire at bay.

Kaguya prepared to strike, but then saw Utsuho and got out of the way, allowing Utsuho and Mokou to sail past her. "Mokou, get away from her!"

Mokou, her eyes needing a couple seconds to regenerate-looking at one of Utsuho's miniature suns normally didn't have the risk of damaging one's eyes that looking into the actual, full-size sun did, but Mokou had looked at the miniature sun from _within_ it, which was about as bad as doing so within the actual sun would be. Eyes, thanks in part to their size, regenerated quickly even when completely removed; the sunlight-caused damage to Mokou's only took a couple seconds. But it was a couple seconds too long before she could see that Utsuho was glowing brightly, and she didn't react to Kaguya's verbal warning quickly enough.

"Abyss Nova!"

Kaguya was outside the attack's radius. Mokou was not, and the blast did just as much damage as it had done to her and Kaguya when they'd first fought Utsuho. The remains of Mokou's body fell into the water, and Utsuho halted her momentum and faced Kaguya, the sun she'd recently been inside fading away.

"Clever," Kaguya said. "You knew she would do that, so you prepared yourself. Impressive, too, attacking with that much firepower while gathering the energy within yourself."

"Last time I killed her, you distracted me with talk long enough for Mokou to come back to life. Not this time. Yatagarasu Dive!"

Kaguya almost got out of the way of the energy-enveloped Utsuho's charge in time, taking a glancing blow that nonetheless knocked her spinning. She recovered by the time Utsuho's attack finished and the hell raven flew back at her, and met Utsuho's attempt to strike with the control rod with her sword. Knowing that she couldn't take Utsuho alone, Kaguya tried to pull away, buy time for Mokou to resurrect, but Utsuho pressed the attack quite aggressively, and the damage to Mokou's body this time was far worse than a simple decapitation. It took much longer this time, and despite her best efforts, Kaguya was unable to last long enough; just as Mokou rose from the water, Kaguya's own dead body plunged into it. And when she resurrected, it was just in time to witness Mokou's death.

_Great,_ Kaguya thought as Utsuho came for her again, _now we're back to the tag-team approach. _She knew Mokou wouldn't hold off until she could resurrect-Mokou could better survive against Utsuho, thanks to the protection from Utsuho's power that her own power over fire afforded her, limited though it was, but she clearly wasn't willing to (which, given that she hadn't wanted Kaguya in the fight with her in the first place, wasn't surprising)-so Kaguya had to be the one to hold out until Mokou could rejoin the fight. But Utsuho clearly realized this, and wasn't about to let Kaguya do so. She pressed the attack aggressively, relying on overwhelming force to ensure Kaguya didn't have a chance to attack or to flee, and without an ally, there was nothing she could do to stop or escape the barrage, and once again, she fell just as Mokou returned to life. And she died knowing that even though the battle wasn't yet over, she and Mokou had lost.

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>Yuugi tossed shelf to the side, clearing the way, and the group proceeded. Sakuya, however, was moving slowly. "Hey," Yuugi said, "are you okay?"<p>

"It's... getting harder," Sakuya said. "The... closer we get, the harder... it is to keep... us moving in a straight path. It's as though... this place is fighting me."

"We have almost reached our destination," Levia said. "You need endure only a short while longer."

"Here, I'll make it easy for you." Yuugi picked Sakuya up, holding her in one arm. "Now you don't even need to walk."

"...Thanks," Sakuya said.

The group continued on, and as Levia had said, there was not much farther to go. One more shelf shoved aside, and the group entered what could only be described as a room-and a fairly large one-of some sort, though the 'walls' were all bookshelves. "We are here," Levia said.

"There's... no distortion here," Sakuya said. "Good. I... couldn't have held out much longer."

"You don't look so good," Yuugi said.

"I've... never been... so exhausted... in my entire life."

"Can you walk?"

"Yes, but... little else. It's good that... the distorting effect... seems to be absent here."

Yuugi set Sakuya down. "Isn't this the center of the distortion? Why would it be normal here?"

"There has been... some effect-the library has never... had such an arrangement of shelves-but the constant... distortions that exist throughout... the rest of this space... aren't present here."

"The eye of the storm," Nue said. "Levia, can you pinpoint the source?"

"It is much clearer now that we are here," Levia said. "I cannot say unequivocally that what I sense is the source-I have never before experienced anything like this space, nor have I sensed anything identical to what I sense now; it has the Shades' energy, yes, but it is not itself a Shade-but I can pinpoint the precice location of whatever it is I am sensing, source of this space or otherwise."

"Then show us where it is, please."

Levia led the group to one of the shelves, and indicated a specific book. "This is the source."

Nue leaned in and read the title off of the book's spine. "'Rubrum'. Wonder what that's supposed to mean. All right, then, let's destroy it." She reached out to pull it from the shelf, but as soon as she touched it, it flew out of her hand and off of the shelf to the other end of the room, where it spun around and opened, the blood-red pages between its black covers flipping seemingly on their own. "Aaaaaaaaand we have to fight it," Yuugi said. "Naturally."

"What's wrong?" Nue said as she readied her trident. "I thought you were always up for a fight."

"Yeah, but a book? Doesn't seem like a fun opponent."

Sakuya and Levia assumed their own ready stances, but Nue waved the barely-standing Sakuya down. "You don't look like you're in any shape to fight. We'll handle this."

"I... can still..." Sakuya fell to the ground, "...never mind."

"We've got this," Yuugi said. "Nue, Levia, let's kick this 'Rubrum' thing's ass."

[BGM= /watch?v=hyin0pjY7-0&list=PLB2F9F647A86EA5AE]Several pages formed a ring around Rubrum and began firing Shade-style shots. Nue sent out rainbow UFOs to counter this, then aimed her trident at Rubrum and fired a beam. The beam struck a barrier around Rubrum with no effect.

Yuugi charged Rubrum and struck, her first punch breaking through the barrier and her second knocking Rubrum into one of the bookshelves making up the 'wall', though someone the shelf was completely undamaged. The pages flew into Yuugi, who struck and destroyed about half of them, the others impacting upon her, destroying themselves upon doing so. "Ow," Yuugi said, "that actually stung a bit. Those aren't regular pages."

"Really?" Nue said. "I never would have guessed."

Rubrum charged towards Yuugi at high speed, the barrier restored and another ring of pages positioned around it. The barrier struck Yuugi and knocked her into the wall as it continued on, not stopping until it reached the other side of the room. Nue swept a beam across the ring of pages, destroying them as they rotated around Rubrum and its barrier, but new ones replaced them almost immediately, and the beam had no effect on the barrier. "It looks like we'll have to strike the barrier physically! I'll clear its fire as much as I can; you two take it out!"

Nue formed a trio of green UFOs and sent them into triangular positions around Rubrum, directing their beams towards the book. The pages were destroyed almost as fast as they appeared, and the still-present rainbow UFOs cleared most of the shots they managed to get out. Of course, keeping the green UFOs in place was more complicated than that, as Rubrum was repeatedly repeating its charge attack.

"Damn thing won't stay in one place long enough for me to hit it," Yuugi said, dodging another charge. "Levia, get over here! I've got an idea!"

Levia and Yuugi made their way to each other. Yuugi took hold of Levia's whip. "Jump to the side next time it charges us, and don't let go of the whip."

"...Clever," Levia said.

Rubrum's next couple charges targeted Nue, but eventually, it once more came straight for Yuugi. "Now!" Yuugi shouted, and she and Levia leapt to opposite sides, stretching Levia's whip between themselves. Rubrum hit the outstretched whip, but the barrier didn't break. Rubrum hit it and kept moving, pulling the weapon, and thus Yuugi and Levia, along with it. When its charge stopped, momentum carried Yuugi and Levia forward. Levia flew past Rubrum and into the wall, but Yuugi reacted quickly enough to adjust her course, directing herself directly at Rubrum. She smashed through the barrier and into Rubrum, sending it into the wall. Yuugi tried to grab Rubrum, but the book evaded her and dashed away.

"That seemed effective," Levia said, "although not in the expected manner. Shall we attempt it again?"

"No," Yuugi said. "I thought your whip would slice through the barrier and catch the damn book, but it jjust dragged us along instead, and there's a better way than that to get a hit in."

Yuugi waited until Rubrum charged her again, and when it did, she made no attempt to evade. Instead, she struck with a carefully-timed punch, striking and breaking through the barrier as it was about to connect with her and hitting Rubrum dead-on, knocking it into the wall again.

"Thought I'd feel that a bit more," Yuugi said. "Guess these gauntlets do a better job of absorbing the shock than I thought."

Rubrum's barrier re-formed, and the pages vanished. "It's changing tactics," Nue said, dispelling her UFOs. "Be ready."

Rubrum charged again, and as it did, it also sent several spheres, duplicates of its barrier, flying off in random directions. Each made three bounces off the walls, dissipating the fourth time it hit a wall. And even more were launched upwards at various angles, so there was no safe area in the air. Rubrum kept charging, producing another set of spheres every time.

"Damn it," Yuugi said dodging a sphere, "I can't get a clear shot with all these things bouncing around! And I can't break them quickly enough to get one, either!" And she couldn't simply take the hits, as they knocked even her a significant distance upon impact.

"Be glad you can break them at all," Nue said as she weaved around the spheres. "When I do it, I get knocked into the wall anyways!"

"Yeah, this really isn't your kind of fight, is it? Just do what you can; I've got another idea."

Yuugi made her way to one of the corners of the room. With only a 45-degree arc for them to approach from, Yuugi had no difficulty breaking any spheres that came her way. "Much better."

"That may be," Levia said, "but our enemy seems to be avoiding you." Unlike Yuugi, she was having little difficulty avoiding the spheres; her whip allowed her to strike a wide arc around her, and although it didn't destroy the spheres, it did knock them away. "Make your way to me, Yuugi. You as well, Nue. I believe I know how to approach this."

Nue and Yuugi made their way over to Levia. "What's the plan?" Yuugi said.

"Yuugi, you and I will stand back-to-back. I can cover behind you and to your sides. We rotate tracking the movement of Rubrum, such that you are always facing it. Nue, make yourself as small as you can and place yourself somewhere on either of us. In doing so, you will avoid getting in our way while still remaining with us, giving Rubrum only a single target."

"So it'll have no choice but to come straight for me," Yuugi said. "Clever."

"Works for me," Nue said as she began to shrink. When she was small enough, she landed on Yuugi's head, gripping the oni's horn. Levia, rapidly swinging her whip in wide arcs, stepped backwards until her back pressed against Yuugi's. They were unable to turn quickly enough for Yuugi to face Rubrum's next charge, but Levia's whip knocked it away, and by the time it charged again, they were in position. She punched trough the barrier, but pulled her punch so as not to hit Rubrum. She instead grabbed the book with her other hand, threw it to the ground, and stomped on it. She was only able to stomp twice before it got away, though. "Damn. I was hoping that'd keep it from pulling back."

"Looks like you'll just have to take what you can get," Nue said. "Get ready; it's going to charge again."

"Doesn't this thing know any other tricks?" Yuugi said.

"The less it has to throw at us, the easier an opponent it is."

"True enough," Yuugi said. "All right, then. Let's finish this damn thing off."

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>Mokou rose from the water to see Kaguya once again plunge into it. <em>So much for her 'teamwork'. Can't count on her for anything.<em> Not that Mokou was doing any better. She was too worn to continue fighting, and she knew it. She could barely even keep herself in the air. "Damn it... Utsuho. Don't... do this."

"I have to," Utsuho said. "Please don't try to stop me again. I don't like hurting you."

"And I... don't like... fighting you. But... I can't let you... do what... you're... trying to do."

"Please, Mokou," Utsuho said as she flew away, "don't make me hurt you again."

Kaguya rose from the water to see Utsuho in the distance and Mokou watching her leave. She wasn't quite as worn as Mokou looked, as she'd entered the battle after Mokou, but she was pretty close. "You look like you're about to fall into the water," she said. "Let's get back over land."

Mokou didn't object at all, which Kaguya knew was another sign of how exhausted she was. The two of them flew back to land at a slow speed, the only pace Mokou could manage. Once they made it over land, they touched down, and Mokou collapsed almost immediately. "Right, then," Kaguya said. "I need a rest, too. I think Seafront's pretty close, so let's head there." She picked Mokou up took off. _It better be close, because I can't keep going much longer, either._

* * *

><p>Yuugi hit through the barrier and struck Rubrum as hard as she could, once more sending it into the wall. But unlike the many other time's she'd done so over the course of the battle, this time Rubrum didn't rise, instead shaking weakly a couple times. Yuugi dashed over to it, took hold of it with both hands, and pulled. It took significant effort, but eventually Rubrum was torn in half. "Die already, you goddamn book."<p>

Nue left her perch on Yuugi's head and returned to normal size. As she did, she noticed the book's pieces vanishing as Shades did. One piece, however, left a black object behind, which quickly disappeared. Nue checked the tablet, which did indeed now have the eighth piece in it. She returned it to the nether. "So it actually was here. Huh."

Sakuya, who'd backed out of the room during the fight, walked back in. "That book was indeed the source," she said. "The interior of this space has ceased twisting, and the space itself is fading."

"Let's hope none of us is standing where a shelf is supposed to be," Yuugi said.

"I doubt you would be harmed. If two objects would somehow end up occupying the same space, the result is simply that whichever is flimsier breaks. In this case, that would be the shelf. You'd feel like you just hit it at high speed, but that's it."

"Better idea," Nue said. "Everyone, in the air. That way we don't break anything."

The four of them rose into the air as the distorted space returned to normal. They flew back to Patchouli's location, where Remilia was waiting. "You seem to have found quite the fight," she said.

"Yeah" Yuugi said. "Had to beat the shit out of an evil book."

"A book?" Patchouli said. "What book?"

"It was the source of the distortions," Sakuya said.

"Strange. Describe it."

"Black," Nue said, "with red pages. 'Rubrum' was written on the spine."

"Hmm... I'll have to look into this. I have no books fitting that description, but... well, no, it's unlikely the Shades could have changed a book like that. More likely that they somehow managed to put it there."

"Regardless of how it arrived here," Remilia said, "Levia, Nue, Yuugi, you have my gratitude."

"We benefited, too," Nue said. "That book had the last of the objects I've been looking for. Now I just have to figure out what the hell I need to do with them."

"Are you leaving already?"

"I am, at least," Nue said. "I want to go talk to Ari, see if she can tell me anything about what to do now that I have all eight pieces."

"I've got no reason to stay," Yuugi said.

"My business here is also complete," Levia said.

"I see," Remilia said. "Very well, then. Know that you have my gratitude, and if there's anything I can do to repay you, please let me know."

"For one," Nue said, "I'm thinking it'd be a good idea to get Patchouli and Ari together, see if they can learn anything new from each other. So I may bring Ari by whenever I have the chance."

"After what you've done for me," Remilia said, "you're welcome at any time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a text to locate. Sakuya, Patchouli, come."

"Right," Nue said as Remilia wandered off into the library, Sakuya and a reluctant Patchouli behind her, "let's get out of here."

"Back to the village, then?" Yuugi said. "Seems pretty early for that."

"If you want to hunt Shades or something, go ahead. I'm going to go speak with Ari."

"I'll come with," Yuugi said, "although if she doesn't have anything to tell us, I might go Shade-hunting anyways."

"I believe that holds true for me, as well," Levia said.

"Works for me," Nue said. "All right, then, lets go."

* * *

><p><strong>As you may recall, I said at the end of the last chapter that I was trying to decide between two shorter chapters and one longer one. As was likely apparent by the length, I chose one longer one. If I had separated them, BTW, the battle with Utsuho would have been the focus of the first one, and the SDM sequence would be the focus of the second one.<strong>

**Anyways, stuff happened, not all of it good. Keine had a particularly bad time thanks to some unpleasant news. I hope that scene worked well; it's the first time I've written something like that. Anyways, yeah, Keine had an... unhappy experience. Which is just a taste of things to come, really; NieR gets _extremely_ depressing in its second half, and I have no intention of changing that here.**

**Those of you who have played NieR were probably expecting Eientei to play the role of Emile's mansion, what with all the strangeness happening there, but nope! It was the SDM. The find-the-keys 'puzzle' that you have to do in NieR wouldn't really make for good reading, either, I think, so instead I just went the 'strange space route. I kept the Rubrum fight, of course, although like in the Barren Temple, I had to up the intensity of the fight.**

**Mokou and Kaguya had their fight against Utsuho, but that didn't go very well. Nue's group did a lot better. And they have all eight pieces now, too. Not that this story is anywhere close to done.**

**Let's see, what else... oh yeah, Kagerou made a brief appearance. Not a significant one in any way-she was just there briefly-but I thought I should at least acknowledge Double Dealing Character. Don't expect any significant appearances from its cast, though. Some might show up, but they'd be just minor appearances.**

**Anyways, I'd like to ask if there are any characters/potential subplots you'd like to see more/less of, or anything you might want to see added to the story, as we're coming up on what is a very good point to add/remove/adjust that sort of thing. I'm not promising to do everything suggested, of course, but I'd like to hear from you anyways. And, of course, ordinary reviews are also appreciated.**


	13. Chapter 13: Fragments

**Note: Once again, I _highly_ recommend listening to the music for this chapter. I know I've been saying that a lot since I began including it, but that's only because there's been a lot of the best of it fairly close together. After this chapter, it'll probably be a while before I say this again, but for this chapter, you really should listen to the music. I always think this, of course, but for this chapter (and the others I've specifically said this about), the feeling is much stronger than usual. Hell, if you only listen to one chapter's music, this would probably be the one to do it for. Most of it is from NieR, which has a soundtrack that's awesome in general, and this chapter has some stuff that's really good even by its standard. So yeah, you really should listen to the music here. Trust me.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13<br>**_Fragments_

After some food and a little rest, Mokou and Kaguya departed Seafront for the forest. But they hadn't gotten very far when the yelling started. Now, the two of them were on the ground, facing each other. And Mokou, at least, was angry. "Goddamn it, Kaguya, why can't you just stay out of this?"

"I'll stay out of your business with Utsuho," Kaguya said, "but I have my own business with her."

"I don't care about your 'business' with her! Just stay the hell out of it! And while you're at it, just stay the hell out of my life in general!"

"So you don't want to continue the training?"

"Not with you! It was a mistake to do it with you at all! It just made it easy for you to rub everything in my face! 'Oh, look at me, I can forgive you right away but you haven't forgiven me in over 1,500 years!' I rescued you, and all you've done since is mock me!"

_...Um. Well, I guess that explains the way she's been reacting to me, at least. Doesn't make her any less wrong, though. _"If that's what you think this is, then you are very, very wrong. You see, I've learned the value of forgiveness. I know how it feels to be hated for something you regret, to be haunted by a mistake. You taught me that. I can forgive you so readily because you showed me what it's like to be unforgiven. So yes, I'm very willing to forgive people for actions they've come to regret. I have you to thank for that."

"Shut up! Just shut up! I don't want to hear you going on about how much fucking _better_ you are!"

"Then maybe," Kaguya said, "you should pull your head out of your ass and listen to what I'm _actually_ saying."

"Be quiet! I'm not going to take this from you! Everything that's happened is your fault! Utsuho's gone nuts because of _you_!"

"If you believed that, you wouldn't have rescued me."

"I told you to _shut the fuck up_!It's all your fault! Satori's death, Utsuho going crazy, even you being thrown into that sun, it's all your own fault!"

"Satori's death was indeed my fault. Just like your father's was. But that's not why you're really mad, is it? You've gotten over that. You're not even trying to kill me anymore. You've gotten over that. The only thing you're mad at me for is doing what you so far could not. Mokou, you made it very clear by rescuing me from that sun that you've forgiven me, but you haven't forgiven yourself for letting me get thrown in there."

"Don't you _dare_ say this is my fault! It all happened because of you!"

"Of course it did. But you've always taken the 'eye for an eye' approach. I get your father killed, so you kill me. Repeatedly, since I don't stay dead, but it's still just killing me. But that's not what happened in response to me killing Satori. You did something different. Utsuho threw me into a sun, which is not what I did to Satori. You know that, and you see throwing me into that sun as grossly disproportionate. And you let it happen out of anger, not because you thought I deserved it. And it took you five hundred years to realize that you shouldn't have done it. You're lashing out at me, but you're upset with yourself."

"For fuck's sake, just shut up and leave me alone!" Mokou flew away.

_Right,_ Kaguya thought, _I think that went well, as unpleasant as it was. She didn't have any real rebuttals, which means she's probably run out of excuses to deny the truth. I'll leave her alone for now, show up later in the day, after she's had a chance to calm down and think. Hmm... well, might as well wander around Eientei for a while._ She took off, heading for her former home.

* * *

><p>As they passed near Nue and Byakuren's home on their way to Ari's, Levia stopped Nue. "I sense something from within your residence. I believe the taint upon Byakuren is affecting her greatly at the moment."<p>

"What?! Are you telling me we're too-"

"Calm yourself," Levia said. "The intensity waxes and wanes, does it not? That is all this is, I think. A particularly intense period. She's no closer to dying; she simply feels the taint more than she has been"

Nue changed course. "I'm going to her. Bring Ari to us."

Nue flew home as fast as she could and ran in. Byakuren was seated facing away from the door, and Nue ran up to her. "Byakuren, are you okay?"

Byakuren looked up at Nue. "Nue. You're... back."

"I'm. Are you okay? Levia said she sensed that the Scrawl was really bad right now."

"The pain is... the worst it's been, but... I can... manage. How did... things go... for you?"

"We found the last piece," Nue said. "We have all eight now, so you shouldn't have to deal with this for much longer. Yuugi and Levia are bringing Ari here, and together, well figure out what I need to do with the things."

"I would... tell you... to be careful... but you've heard that already."

"I have no intention of letting anything happen to either of us."

"I... know."

"I just hope Ari already knows what to do next. I'd like to finish this as soon as possible."

"I don't know if... she'll have anything new... already. Although she has... had Keine there... to help... for a bit."

"Keine's with Ari?"

"She... hand some... unpleasant news... and wanted to... distract herself."

"Maybe you shouldn't try to speak, if you're in so much pain."

"It's... the same... whether I speak or not."

"Well, you still don't have to talk. And don't worry; I'll stay with you."

Nue sat with Byakuren until Yuugi and Levi arrived with Ari and Keine, then stood and let them in. "Ari. Thanks for coming."

"It's not a problem," Ari said.

"Do you have any information?"

"Only a very little. You remember the key I spoke about, right? I believe your tablet must be taken to the place it unlocks."

"So even though we found the eight pieces, we still need to go there."

"Yes," Ari said. "As I said previously, though, I doubt you'll need to assemble the key."

"We still need to find the lock, though," Yuugi said. "Any leads?"

"Not as such, no. Just a few areas I think we can rule out. Any of the more populated areas, for instance. It's also unlikely that it's anywhere in the desert, given the Shades' apparent dislike for that environment."

"That still leaves a lot of area to search," Nue said.

"Maybe, but it may be possible to narrow it down further. And some areas are more likely to have it than others. I'd recommend starting with out-of-the-way or otherwise seldomly-visited areas."

"What about the Garden of the Sun?" Yuugi asked. "I don't know a lot about that place, but don't people generally stay away from it? The horror stories about Yuuka are... well, they keep people away."

"It is Yuuka's spot of residence, though," Nue said. "I'd think a place where someone lives would be low on the list of locations for a secret... well, location."

"Actually," Ari said, "the idea may have merit. Locating such a thing in an inhabited area would have the advantage of being unexpected, and hiding such a thing from one person wouldn't be too difficult, I would think. Besides, as long as they stayed away from the flowers, Yuuka wouldn't care. And if they didn't, she'd simply destroy just the ones that transgressed, and nothing further."

"Who is this 'Yuuka'?" Levia asked.

"A flower youkai," Nue said. "A lot of people see her as something of a boogeyman, but the rumors are exaggerated. Not completely without basis, but I've met her, and she's certainly not the sadistic monster she's commonly made out to be."

"Wait," Yuugi said, "you've met her?"

"While in the form of a fairy. I was curious about all the rumors, and I knew that a fairy would pass unnoticed even by her. Pretty much nobody pays attention to fairies unless being attacked by them."

"I bet she'd pay attention if one did anything to any of her flowers."

"Most likely. One thing you can be sure of with her is that doing anything to her flowers will piss her off. That's really the only thing you can be sure of with her, though. Jjust going to the garden isn't too risky, but if you harm the flowers, you're probably dead."

"And we'll be going there," Yuugi said. "Great."

"We could take her," Nue said. "Any one of us would be outmatched on her own, but the three of us together could take her. Still, it would be best to avoid fighting her, so we'll just be careful not to disturb the flowers."

"Is she really that tough?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. Well, I'm normally not one to turn down a fight, but if she's that nasty, I might just make an excep-"

Yuugi was cut off as the door was flung open and none other than Suika Ibuki ran in. "Byaku- oof!" And ran straight into Yuugi. "Yuugi, too?" She looked around. "Man, almost everyone's here."

"Suika?" Yuugi said. "What are you doing here?"

"Shades are coming! A hell of a lot of them!"

"Shades?" Nue said.

"Yeah! I was coming here to visit Yuugi like I said I would, and I saw them! There's an army of them, and they have the village surrounded! They'll be here soon!"

"Levia?"

"I do not sense them," Levia said, "but I can sense them only when they are close, so this is not surpri-wait. I am sensing them. They are much further away than any I have sensed before, but their numbers may explain this. I can tell that there are many of them, and I believe Suika is correct that they have encircled the village."

"This has to be a deliberate attack," Ari said, "but why? Even if we allow for them to have enough capacity for thought to coordinate an attack, why are they doing it? They've never shown that level of interest in us before."

"The tablet," Nue said. "It has to be. They know I have all eight pieces, and they know the thing can be used against them."

"I don't think we should be worrying about that right now," Yuugi said. "Suika, are you telling anyone else?"

"I've got minis heading for Ari's and Keine's," Suika said, "but they're both right here. One's looking for you at the tavern, too, Yuugi."

"I'm not there, but Mamizou probably is."

"That's the important people," Nue said. "Okay, let's get moving." A loud sound rang out. "There's the bell. Mamizou must have rung it."

"A warning bell?" Suika said.

"Yeah. It's audible through the entire village. And right now, you're hearing the warning signal. Everyone'll be gathering in the schoolhouse and library. Byakuren, can you get there on your own?"

Byakuren tried to stand, but collapsed back onto her seat. "I... can't... the pain... just... worsened... Nue..."

Nue ran over and picked Byakuren up. "I'll carry you, then. Let's go, everyone!"

The group ran outside and took off towards the schoolhouse, but Nue held back Keine, who hadn't said a single word since arriving. "Keine, I don't know what happened, but this isn't the time to dwell on it. If this Shade army really is that large, we'll need you in the fight. Can you handle that?" Keine still said nothing, her reply a simple nod. "...Right, then. Let's move!"

* * *

><p>Mokou sat down in front of her house and thought.<p>

Kaguya was right. As much as she hated to admit it, Kaguya was right. But what the hell was she supposed to do? She couldn't just forgive herself, not for what she'd tried to do.

It wasn't about throwing Kaguya into the sun. Kaguya and Keine had been right; all she did was not try to stop Utsuho from doing it, and she probably couldn't have if she'd tried. But it was a convenient lie. She wasn't about to tell anyone what had really happened.

Not even Utsuho knew that, right after Kaguya was thrown into the sun, Mokou had gone to Eientei. Her rage at the death of her father had been strong enough, and Kaguya hadn't actually done that deed herself. She'd merely caused him to get himself killed. That wasn't the case with Satori. Kaguya did kill her personally, and in the process made Mokou angrier than she'd ever been. Bad enough that she'd suffered because of Kaguya; now Utsuho had, too, and unlike with Mokou's father, Satori did not share the blame. It had been entirely Kaguya's doing.

Even with all her experience with the emotion, Mokou had been unable to control her anger. So she'd gone to Eientei, intending to do to Kaguya what Kaguya had done to Utsuho. The only reason she didnt kill Eirin, Reisen, Tewi, and any other residents she happened to run into was that none of them were there Eientei had already undergone its transformation into the madhouse it still was today.

Mokou had somehow managed to push her feelings aside, but then Utsuho went crazy. Now Kaguya was out, and there was no way for Mokou to hide from herself. Throughout her entire life, she'd never once attacked anyone other than Kaguya, never targeted anyone but the guilty party. But when Satori was killed, she'd almost broken that rule, almost harmed those who were innocent. _That_ was what she couldn't forgive herself for. She could never forgive herself for betraying herself, nor could she forget it. It would haunt her for eternity.

And she had no idea how to deal with it.

* * *

><p>"Come on, people, move it! I can move faster than all of you, and I don't even have a body!"<p>

Sekibanki actually did have a body, but it and her head were currently separated. A youkai living in the village, Sekibanki had once had to hide what she was. But that was before the Radiance. Now, much like with Keine, this was no longer necessary. And right now that was a very good thing, as she wouldn't have been able to separate her head and body without revealing that she wasn't human, and right now, her ability to be in two places at once was proving extremely helpful, as it allowed her to direct people into the library and schoolhouse simultaneously. The buildings were right next to each other, which along with their size was why they were chosen as the gathering spot if a major attack happened, but it still would have been difficult for one person to manage the streams of people entering both without Sekibanki's ability to separate her head and body.

Sekibanki's head was handling the schoolhouse. As it was the more complex of the two structures, the ability to direct people verbally was more important for it than the library, for which just pointing was direction enough. The schoolhouse needed verbal direction, especially when people were likely to be afraid and frantic. But so far, keeping organization hadn't been as difficult as Sekibanki had thought it would be.

Several people landed in front of the schoolhouse, including Nue, who was carrying Byakuren. "You're all here," Sekibanki said. "Good."

"How are things going here?" Nue said.

"Much more smoothly than I expected."

"Mamizou here yet?"

"No. Her duty in this situation is to find and appraise the threat, and I assume she's still doing that."

"Byakuren's not in any condition to fight. Where should I take her?"

"Library. Nazrin's there, and she'll probably want to be with Byakuren."

Nue quickly ran into the library, soon emerging minus Byakuren. "You were right. Nazrin definitely wants to stay with her."

Mamizou came in quickly and landed by the group. "Everyone's here. Good."

"What's the situation?" Nue said.

"Exactly what Suika said it was. The village is surrounded, and the Shades are closing in. And their numbers are massive. No tengu-types, though."

"They don't need those," Nue said. "Its not like fleeing is an option. Even surrounding us is unnecessary, really. We can't run, not when they're attacking the village. And we can't pick the Shades off from the air, either; that would take far too long, and we wouldn't be able to keep them away from here very effectively. No, they don't have any need for tengu-types, not this time."

"Just a straight-up fight, then," Suika said as the last of her minis ran up and reunited with her. "Good enough for me."

"You take the north side," Nue said. "Things are more spread-out on that end, so you'll have more room to get giant if you need to."

"Probably won't. I find it works best to stay around the same size as my opponents. Although stomping on them for a bit may work, given how many there are."

"Do whatever works. Yuugi, you take the east end. You go south, Levia, and Ill take west."

"Some of the people will want to fight," Sekibanki said.

"Allow only the ones that actually have halfway-decent combat ability. We don't need people who'll get killed right away. The ones that do have some level of ability to fight, send out to positions somewhere between those of the four of us. We won't be able to cover the entire 360 degrees around the village, so they can plug the gaps. And you yourself are staying here, of course."

"Yes."

"You, too, Keine. We need some combat ability to deal with any Shades that make it this far."

Keine just nodded.

_I hope she's up for it if it's necessary,_ Nue thought. "Mamizou, you stay here, too. I know you're not that good against Shades, but you can still help, give Keine some backup." _And kick her in the ass to get her moving, if that ends up being necessary._

"I'll do that," Mamizou said.

"All right, then," Nue said, "its time. And remember, there shouldn't be anybody in any of the houses or anywhere else but here. Try not to do too much damage, but if you need to, you won't risk injuring anyone in doing so. Got it? Good. Okay, move!"

* * *

><p>As the others left, Keine walked into the schoolhouse. She found a spot and sat down. She knew how much danger everyone was in, knew how likely it was that she would need to fight, but she found it hard to care, hard to turn her attention away from the fact that Tenshi was gone. She knew it wasn't Tenshi's choice, and could easily imagine how strongly Tenshi had objected, but that didn't change the fact that Tenshi was gone.<p>

Keine knew she needed to focus on the present, on the danger posed by the Shades, but try as she might, her thoughts kept returning to Tenshi. And so she sat, trying desperately to think of something else, of anything else.

* * *

><p>Nazrin wasn't going to fight. She would remain with Byakuren. But others would want to fight, some of which would just be getting themselves killed. And she didn't have to leave Byakuren to prevent those people from fighting.<p>

"All right, Nazrin said, "I know some of you want to go out there and fight. Everyone who does, step forward." As expected, quite a few people did. Nazrin indicated each one in turn. "Okay, you can go, not you, you yes, you no, no, yes, no, yes, no, no, no, no, no, yes, no..." She continued until she made it through all the volunteers. "Okay, those fighting, go outside and get directions from Sekibanki. The rest of you, stay here."

The ones Nazrin had okayed to fight exited the library, but the ones she'd told no didn't stand down. "You're not telling me what to do," one of them-Nokoro, as Nazrin knew his name to be-said. "I'm not staying in here while those things are at-"

"You'll die," Nazrin said. "I understand wanting to defend your home, but you don't have the ability to. If I let you go out there, you'll just get killed. That won't accomplish anything. I know everyone in the village, and the ones I let out are the ones with at least some level of halfway-decent fighting ability. Most of them'll probably die, but they'll at least do some good first. You, though? You'll just die. Might take a single Shade with you, maybe two, but you'll die. All of you I told to stay in here, I know you can't hold even with me, and if you can't do that, you won't make any difference out there."

"And if I can hold even with you?"

"If you can hold even with me one-on-one even just briefly," Nazrin said, "then I won't make any further effort to stop you."

Nokoro charged Nazrin, but the mouse youkai immediately flipped him over onto the ground. "See, you don't know how to fight."

"You're a youkai. That's not fair."

"Yes," Nazrin said, "even a somewhat weaker youkai like me is faster and stronger than a human, but guess what? I don't know how to fight either, not like this. Oh, sure, I can throw you to the ground, or hit people with my dousing rods, but anyone with any decent level of skill, human or youkai, could beat me in melee combat. If you can't do even that, all you'll be able to do out there is flail at Shades while they kill you." She stepped back from Nokoro. "Anyone else going to test themselves against me?" No response. "Good." _Keep those who won't do any good away from the fight. Not the greatest contribution, but not a meaningless one, either. I just hope the ones who can fight will be enough._

* * *

><p>[BGM=watch?v=XiDI4GZMVF0]

The Shades were just reaching the village when Nue met them. She sent out blue UFOs to spray lasers at the approaching horde, knowing that while this wasn't likely to take any of them out, it would soften them up at least a little. And she didn't need to give them much attention; all they had to do was fire in the general direction of the horde, and they'd hit Shades. Which allowed Nue to throw out a far larger number than she could ordinarily manage without needing to spare any concentration for them.

With her UFOs in place, Nue charged into battle.

* * *

><p>Although Suika did generally find it best to remain at about the same size as her opponents, there were exceptions. Such as when faced with a horde like the one currently headed her way. Fortunately, they weren't actually at the village yet, so there was no need to worry about collateral damage. So she grew to giant size and stomped all over the horde of Shades, crushing them by the dozens. But eventually, the horde was thinned enough to limit how quickly she could crush them, so she returned herself to normal size. Some had made it to the village, and she took them out first. Others kept coming, but she'd thinned their numbers enough that she had no trouble keeping them from getting further in.<p>

* * *

><p>Levia focused her power into her whip, spun it around in circles very rapidly, and threw it into the approaching horde. The energized whip kept spinning, slicing through the Shades fairly easily, and Levia was able to direct its movement. She couldn't get anywhere close to all of them with it, but it did take out more than enough that she could control the remaining numbers without much difficulty.<p>

* * *

><p>Yuugi punched a Shade, which sent it flying backwards through several others, knocking them all down. She repeated this over and over, but still couldn't slow the Shade's approach enough. They did tend to go down in just one or two hits, but there were too many of them, and aside from knocking them into each other, Yuugi didn't really have any way of hitting more than one at a time. She could still go through them quickly, but not quite quickly enough; they were slowly pushing her back. And once they pushed her into the village, the houses would make it far harder for her to keep up. Yeah, Mamizou and Keine-maybe-were there, but they'd probably have enough to deal with already; there weren't enough even halfway-decent fighters in the village to plug all the gaps. No, she had to deal with these Shades herself. And to do that, she had to keep them back, but she was ever-so-slowly failing.<p>

A Shade slipped past Yuugi. _Shit! Okay, leave it for Mamizou. Can't leave position here. Can't spare the time to go after any that get past me. Have to let Mamizou deal with that-_

The Shade went sailing back past Yuugi as a voice called out. "Surprise!"

Yuugi spared only a quick glance before returning to the fight, but that was enough to identify the speaker; the umbrella she carried with her-and which housed her true self-was quite distinctive. "Kogasa?"

Yuugi hadn't known about the karakasa until the attack on the underground had forced the surviving oni to the surface. Kogasa'd tried her traditional method of surprise on them, pleased to have new people to go for, but she soon realized that an oni's typical response to someone jumping out at them was to punch that someone. It hadn't taken long at all for Kogasa to realize that jumping out at oni wasn't a good idea. Besides, these days her preferred method of surprise was to show up out of nowhere and save people from Shades.

"Thought you could use a hand," Kogasa said.

"Admit it, you only showed up to help because you knew it'd surprise me."

"You're not the only one I just surprised. A lot of people weren't expecting me."

"You and I are the only ones here. What are you talking about?"

"They're not 'here'," Kogasa said. "I'm breaking the fourth wall."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry about it. It's just something I do sometimes. Tends to surprise people. All that matters to you is that I'm here to help."

"Right. Well, I can't say I'm not grateful, but do you think you're up for it?"

"I'm stronger than people think."

Yuugi sent another Shade flying into the horde. "Another way to surprise people?"

"Yep."

"And you won't try to surprise me again by leaving in the middle of the fight?"

"Some things are more important than a momentary surprise," Kogasa said. "Besides, you're obviously ready for it, so it wouldn't be much of a surprise, now, would it? Don't worry; I've got your back on this one. You just hold your ground and stop letting them push you back, because you don't need to get them all. Just take out as many as you can; I'll handle the rest."

"Works for me," Yuugi said. "Let's kick some ass."

* * *

><p>Nue stabbed a Shade through its 'chest', which finished it off. She took out three more with a wide slash, then threw her trident, sending it through three Shades before it came to a stop in a fourth, Nue then calling it back to her.<p>

Nue was doing decently well; her UFOs were softening the Shades up enough for her to take them out without being pushed back, and if any got past her, she had a single red UFO she was sending colliding into them to knock them back out in front of her. She was holding her ground. But the Shades kept coming.

Nue took out another two Shades. _How many of these things are there?_ There weren't as many of them at once as at the beginning of the battle, but it seemed as though no matter how many she took out, more came. But she didn't have any choice but to keep fighting, and eventually, after quite some time, their numbers thinned. _Finally making some progress. I hope the others are-_

Nue only barely saw it in time, but fortunately, she could react quickly. She leapt to the side as something smashed the ground where she'd been standing. She looked at it, then up at the rest of it. _What the hell is that thing?_

The massive, humanoid creature had the same shifting yellow/black coloration as ordinary Shades, although it did not have the fading-in-and-out, somewhat insubstantial effect ordinary Shades exhibited. The creature looked as though tubes of... whatever it was Shades were composed of, as if tubes of that substance had been wound together into a single massive form. The creature lacked hands as normally thought of; instead, the wound tubes of its arms simply came unwound at the ends, giving the appearance of fingers.

The creature advanced to the village. It bent over and crawled onto houses, one limb on each, straddling the way between the houses. Nue ran under the creature and fired beams up into it, drawing its attention back to her. _As if the horde of regular Shades wasn't bad enough, now I've got this thing to deal with! And after fighting that 'Rubrum' thing earlier, too. I hope there's not anything else coming, or else I may not last through to the end of the fight. Hell, I may not even last long enough to take out this thing, depending on how tough it is. But I can't stop fighting. I can't let this thing by me. No matter how much of a toll it takes on me, I have to beat this thing!_

* * *

><p>There were fewer Shades now, few enough hat Yuugi would have had little trouble holding her ground even without Kogasa's help. Their grouping was no longer dense enough for hitting them back into the horde to be particularly effective, but it was also no longer necessary to do so. If there happened to be enough of them in a line or cluster, Yuugi would throw a Shade at them, but other than that, she and Kogasa just took them out as they came.<p>

One Shade slipped past, but Kogasa ran over and quickly took the thing out. Then she saw it. "Um, Yuugi? You might want to take a quick look towards the west side of the village."

Yuugi took out another Shade, then quickly glanced over. "What the hell is that thing?"

There was no time to gawk. Yuugi and Kogasa returned to battle. "That's Nue's area," Yuugi said as she threw a Shade into the ground.

"You think she can take that thing?"

"I have no idea, and I don't think I want to risk it. Can you handle things here?"

"Still a few too many for me to handle on my own," Kogasa said, "but if their numbers keep dropping, it won't be too much longer before I can."

"Then let's do this quickly," Yuugi said. "Tell me as soon as you can handle this on your own, 'cause I don't want to leave Nue alone with that thing any longer than I have to."

* * *

><p>After her initial giant-sized stomping, Suika hadn't had a chance to go giant and stomp through the horde again; doing so would have thinned the horde's numbers again, but unlike during the initial stomping, they were now close enough to the village that some Shades would make it in while she did so. So even though the effect of her initial thinning of the horde didn't last too long, Suika couldn't repeat it. But she did have a few other tricks to help her hold the line. Her ability to create miniature copies of herself was proving particularly useful. The mini-Suikas were weaker, but then, with Suika's strength as the starting point, that still left them able to hit quite a bit harder than the average youkai. They couldn't take hits worth a damn, but that wasn't an issue, as Suika could just make more. And with them, she was able to hold the horde back.<p>

Now, the horde's numbers had dropped, and Suika no longer needed to use her mini-Suikas. She was still pretty busy, though, so when she, while spinning a Shade around before throwing it for greater force, she caught sight of the creature at the west side of the village, she spared only a brief moment after throwing the Shade to look before returning to the battle. _Well, shit, that could be a problem. But I can't go help. I've gotta hold the line here, and the minis wouldn't be enough to do that. And I doubt they'd make a difference if I sent them against that... whatever the hell it is. Guess I'll just have to hope Nue can handle it, or that someone else can get over there to give her a-_

Someone dropped from the sky, landing on a Shade. The newcomer, clearly some variety of bird youkai, leapt off the Shade and attacked the other two that were next to her, slashing through them with her talons. "Need a hand?"

Suika beat a Shade into the ground. "Who are you?"

"Mystia. Mystia Lorelei. I own an establishment in the village. It's why I was coming here, but I didn't expect this."

"Well, I'm usually not one to say this, but do you think you can handle this fight without me? 'Cause in case you haven't noticed, there's a big-ass thing on the other side of the village, and I think it'd be best if I went over to help deal with it."

"I'm afraid I'm not all that strong," Mystia said. "I'll need a hand, although if we can reduce their numbers enough I'll be able to handle it. And there should be three other youkai coming who can do better in a fight than I can, although they'll be coming from the south. Poltergeist musicians who 'live' in the netherworld. We were gonna do a show tonight."

"And they're coming from the south." _That's Levia's area. At she'll be able to go help Nue, then. Still probably good for me to get over there as quickly as I can, though._ "Well, they won't be helping us, then, so let's beat these things down quickly so I can go lend a hand against that big thing."

"Works for me."

* * *

><p>Nue expected she'd be able to do better against the giant creature in the air, but unfortunately, there were still a few regular Shades coming, so she couldn't focus entirely on the big one. Fortunately, the big creature wasn't doing all that much. Every few seconds, it would slam its 'fist' into the ground where Nue was, but that was all it did, and Nue didn't have any real difficulty avoiding it. In fact, she actually found it helpful; by positioning herself next to a Shade, she could get the big creature to hit it, which was generally enough to take it out. <em>Probably hurt if it hit me, though.<em>

Nue prioritized the regular Shades. She tried forming UFOs to attack the big creature, but it always just hit them before returning to trying to punch her, and one hit from it was enough to destroy them. So she just fired at the creature herself whenever she could, and also slashed at its fist after dodging out of its path.

Nue leapt away from the creature's 'hand' again. _Not really making much progress, am I? Not much choice, though. Gotta keep fighting it like this until the regular Shades stop coming._

* * *

><p>"All right," Kogasa said, "I can take it from here. Go give your friend a hand."<p>

"Good luck," Yuugi said as she took to the air, flying towards the giant... thing at the west end of the village.

* * *

><p>Nue avoided another punch and attacked the creature's hand, but this time, something happened when she did. The creature jerked back and started wavering back and forth as though stunned, although its perch on the rooftops remained secure. The arm it had been punching with, though, was just hanging there limply, as though it was barely attached. <em>Well, it's as good a spot to target as any.<em>

Nue still had to prioritize the regular Shades, but now, when she had openings to attack the big one, she aimed at the spot where the limp arm was connected to the creature's main body. This didn't seem to have any special effect, though, and it wasn't long before the creature recovered and its arm returned to normal.

The creature moved to make another attempt to punch Nue, but something interrupted it, slamming into its head with enough force to push the creature to the side, although it was able to maintain its perch. The object that hit it pulled away and landed by Nue. "Hey there. Thought you could use a hand."

"Yuugi," Nue said. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you. But what about your side?"

"Kogasa's there, and I reduced the enemy numbers enough that she can take 'em. Sorry it took me so long to get over here."

Nue cut through another Shade. "Late's better than never. I don't know if I could take this thing on my own, especially after the other fighting today."

"Yeah, I'm kinda surprised you're still going as well as you are. Not many can keep fighting as long as I can."

"I couldn't before the Radiance, but dealing with Shades all the time kind of built up my endurance."

"Yeah, I guess that might do it. We didn't have quite as many of them underground, mainly because whenever any showed up, the first one of us they ran into took them out. Anyways, you handle the regular Shades. I'll handle the big thing."

* * *

><p>The Shades were still coming, but their numbers had decreased. Levia's whip had returned to her, as the numbers she faced had lessened enough that she no longer needed to thin the horde before it reached her. But they were still coming. She could feel the presence of another monstrous creature like the one encountered in the Aerie, and so would have known of its presence even were it not visible, but she couldn't go to Nue's aid, not when there were still Shades coming from this direction. Nue would have to manage without her.<p>

Levia lashed her whip out in an arc, repeatedly cutting through multiple Shades until they were no more. She wrapped it around a Shade and swung it in a circle, the Shade knocking through other Shades until it, too, was no more. Levia cut through the other Shades around her, then faced the next group. But someone else got to them first. Three someones, in fact. The trio landed in a triangular formation around the Shade group and attacked. And it was immediately apparent that the three of them were very good at fighting as a team.

"You are the poltergeist trio from the 'restaurant'," Levia said once the three of them had finished off that particular grouping of Shades.

"Lyrica Prismriver," the one in red said. "These are my sisters, Lunasa and Merlin."

Levia engaged another group of Shades, her whip slicing through them repeatedly. "I was not aware that you would be here."

"We were going to do another show tonight," Lunasa said.

"I'm just glad we weren't in the netherworld when the barrier got strengthened," Merlin said. "Really wouldn't lie being stuck in there. Most ghosts are no fun to play for."

"Your show will have to wait," Levia said. "The village is currently under attack."

"Yeah, we noticed, so we thought we'd lend a hand."

"Are you capable of keeping the Shades here out of the village?"

"We can handle these numbers," Lyrica said.

"Good, as I believe I am needed elsewhere."

Levia flew off, leaving the Prismrivers to face the oncoming Shades. "Yeah," Merlin said, "we can handle this, no problem."

"As long as you don't break formation," Lunasa said.

"I only did that once, and that was five hundred years ago. Are you _ever_ going to stop bringing it up?"

"Probably not."

"Focus, you two," Lyrica said. "We've got bigger concerns right now."

"Indeed we do," Merlin said. "All right, you two. Let's do this."

* * *

><p>Yuugi avoided a swipe from the giant creature as she punched it in the face. The creature was still managing to hold its perch despite the number and strength of Yuugi's strikes, and Yuugi wasn't having much difficulty avoiding its strikes. But no matter how many times she hit it, she seemed to be having little effect. Until, suddenly, something changed.<p>

Nue noticed the creature's state. "It did that before! Try targeting the spot where the limp arm is attached!"

Yuugi flew up to where the arm was attached, grabbed hold of it, and pulled. And pulled. But the arm remained attached. And then Nue was there. "No more regular Shades right now, so I'm free to hit this thing with you." She jammed her trident into the space where the arm was attached and channeled energy through it, causing a blast which, combined with Yuugi's pulling, was enough to completely tear the arm off.

Yuugi and Nue pulled back as the arm fell to the ground, dissolving in the same manner as defeated Shades. "That's gotta hurt," Yuugi said. "Let's do that-"

Tubes grew rapidly from the creatures body, forming into a new arm.

"-again."

"Right," Nue said. "I don't think that's good."

"What's the plan?"

"For now, we keep hitting it. I'll see what else I can figure out."

The creature opened its mouth and spat out a large number of spherical objects of the same sort as the ones the 'Hook' creature in the Aerie had used. "Crap," Yuugi said, "these things again?"

"And a lot more of them than last time," Nue said. "I'll handle them. You just hit that thing."

"That I can do."

Nue dropped to the ground, formed a few UFOs, and set them to work clearing the spheres alongside her. Yuugi resumed her previous routine of evading and striking, but now, in addition to taking swings at Yuugi, the creature kept spitting out spheres, and quickly enough that by the time Nue finished off one set, the next set was there. But leaving them to fire off their shots wasn't exactly a good idea, so Nue kept at it, taking them out while Yuugi attacked their source.

* * *

><p>Noises could be heard outside the library. Of course, this had been the case for a while-some Shades were bound to get through-but the noises had been intensifying for a while now. <em>And it's just Sekibanki and Mamizou out there,<em> Nazrin thought, _isn't it? They must be getting overwhelmed, but I can't do anything to help-wait, maybe I can. If nothing else, I should be able to get to the schoolhouse. Maybe I can't do much in battle, but I may be able to kick Keine into action. I just hope nobody in here is dumb enough to try to join the fight once I'm out of here._

Bykuren watched as Nazrin ran out of the library, then slowly, too slowly, she managed to get to her feet. The pain was still there, but she couldn't let it stop her. Not now. _Too many lives are at stake._

* * *

><p>Yuugi hit the creature again, but before it could rebound back, something else hit it, slamming into it much as Yuugi had. Although, like then, the creature still managed to keep its perch.<p>

Levia pulled away from the creature and over to Yuugi. "Levia," Yuugi said. "Good to see you."

"It was my belief that you would appreciate my assistance."

"You got that right. Is your side of the village being taken care of?"

"Yes. The three poltergeist musicians arrived and agreed to assist."

"Glad to hear it, 'cause we could use you over here."

"What is the plan?"

"Hit this thing while Nue deals with those damn balls it keeps spitting out. So come on, let's go beat the shit out of it."

* * *

><p>"Okay," Mystia said, "this is good. I can handle things here now."<p>

"About damn time," Suika said, "'cause there's a big-ass thing in need of a big-ass pounding."

* * *

><p>Nazrin had been right; Sekibanki and Mamizou were being overwhelmed. They were doing their best, but they were losing. <em>Gotta get Keine out here,<em> Nazrin thought as she dashed towards the schoolhouse. _Gotta get her to help-shit!_

Nazrin quickly dodged to the side as a Shade swung its 'sword' at her. She kept on towards the schoolhouse, but another Shade was in her way. She ducked around it and vaulted over a third, but then a fourth, an oni-type with its big 'club', swung its club and connected, sending Nazrin into the schoolhouse's wall.

Nazrin tried to get up, but another oni-type was there, and it struck her on the head, sending her back down. And as her consciousness faded, just before she blacked out, Nazrin thought she saw Byakuren emerge from the library.

* * *

><p>Yuugi and Levia hit the creature, hit it over and over and over. And eventually, it once again became stunned. <em>This has gotta be significant,<em> Yuugi thought. _Okay, let's try the arm again._ "Levia, with me!"

Levia followed Yuugi in, and since the creature couldn't make any spheres while stunned, Nue was able to finish off the current ones and join them. But something else, some_one_ else, got there first. Suika flew into the creature at high speed, and just before she hit, she grew to match its size. This, finally, was enough to knock it from its perch; the force of Suika's impact carried them back out past the houses before they hit the ground.

Nue, Yuugi, and Levia caught up as Suika got to her feet. Noticing the creature's limp arm, she yanked the creature up and tore the arm off, but as had happened before, the arm quickly regrew. "Well, then," Suika said.

"Glad you're here," Nue said, "but this thing is different. It keeps regenerating."

"Then keep hitting it! Sooner or later it's got to start working!"

As Suika did exactly that, Nue simply looked at Yuugi. "Is she trying to cheer us up, or is she honestly that insane?"

Yuugi just grinned. "Probably both. Let's go!"

* * *

><p>The Prismriver sisters were far from weak, but even their combined strength wasn't enough to match someone like Nue, or Yuugi, or the ghost princess Yuyuko Saigyouji. But they did have one advantage over those who were stronger: there were three of them, and their teamwork was flawless. They didn't even need to look to know where the other two were, and each one knew with absolute certainty that her sisters were watching her back. And their cooperative battle techniques would have put even those of mind-reading satori (were there any left) to shame.<p>

One Shade, one of the new 'celestial-types', came at Lyrica from the side, but she didn't make any attempt to block or evade its strike. She didn't have to, because Merlin was there, taking it out as Lyrica eliminated the ones coming up from behind Merlin. Then they broke to opposite sides to clear Lunasa's flanks.

"One more group down," Lunasa said. "Let's keep it up."

"Their numbers are decreasing," Lyrica said. "Hopefully there won't be too many more."

"There are still some more now, though," Merlin said, "so let's take 'em out."

* * *

><p>Having been knocked clear of any houses, the creature was now standing at its full height. But Suika had matched its size. She was hitting the thing, and hard, but the creature's footing remained steady, and it was striking back. Suika was quicker and managed to evade or block most of the creature's strikes, but she did still take a few hits. And the creature was firing a large storm of shots from its mouth. Nue, with UFO assistance, was clearing most of the shots, but Suika still took some. Not that it slowed her down. Yuugi and Levia, meanwhile, were simply fighting as they had before, getting in as many hits as they could.<p>

This time, it took far more to stun the creature, but eventually it did become stunned. Suika didn't bother tearing off any limbs this time, though; she simply kept hitting it, punching it in the head over and over and over. Then she leapt into the air, clasped her hands together, and pounded the creature on the head hard enough that its 'feet' were actually pushed a few feet into the ground. And this hit, finally, was enough. The creature fell to the ground, its body beginning to dissolve.

"I told you we just had to keep hitting it," Suika said as she returned to her normal size, landing on the ground alongside Yuugi, Levia, and Nue, who dismissed her UFOs as she touched down.

"About time that thing went down," Yuugi said.

"I believe there is a problem," Levia said. "This creature's presence was obscuring my sense of other Shades, but this is no longer true. There is a large number of Shades around and near the schoolhouse and library."

"Shit," Nue said. "Come on, let's-"

"Um, guys?" Suika said. "It's not dead yet."

The creature was gone, at least mostly, but as Nue and the others saw, its head still remained, supported by several tubes that seemed to be waving around like tentacles. "You have got to be kidding me," Nue said.

"It's weak," Levia said. "Its presence has lessened greatly."

"Yuugi, Levia," Nue said, "with me! Suika, finish this thing off!"

"Leave it to me," Suika said.

* * *

><p>Mystia tore through another Shade. <em>Man, coming here got me more than I bargained for.<em>

There weren't many Shades left. Not enough to give even Mystia any difficulty. They were still coming, but only in small numbers. _Hopefully a sign the battle's nearing its end. But it's not over yet, and my job is to make sure no Shades get past me. And I intend to do exactly that._

* * *

><p>The scene around the library and schoolhouse was not good. For starters, there was a large number of Shades in the area. <em>Our positions were all taken care of,<em> Nue thought. _Did these all come through the gaps? Are all of the others who fought dead?_

Mamizou was up against the side of the library, unconscious. Nazrin was unconscious by the schoolhouse, looking as though she'd been trying to get inside. Sekibanki's body was also on the ground, though her head was still flying around firing at Shades, as little good as it seemed to be doing. But the truly unexpected sight was Byakuren standing in the middle of the area, in battle with the Shades.

"I don't care... what you do to me," Byakuren said, clearly still battling her pain, "but I will not let you harm these people!"

Byakuren took a step towards the nearest Shades, but then Nue landed in front of her. "Don't worry, Byakuren. They won't get past us."

"Nue."

"Not just her," Yuugi said as she and Levia landed beside Byakuren. "All three of us are here. We had some help show up at our areas, so we don't need to be there. So we came here."

"Thank you," Byakuren said. "I fear that on my own, in my current... condition, I... would have failed."

"Now you won't," Nue said. "Yuugi! Levia! Let's do this!"

* * *

><p>Kogasa knocked a Shade to the ground and stomped on it until it was dead. She charged another and knocked it back with a flying kick, then fired a laser into its head. The next one she kicked a couple times before clubbing it over the head with her umbrella. As that Shade went down, Kogasa put a hand on her own head. "Owww. I've gotta learn to stop doing that."<p>

There were still Shades coming, but far fewer of them. "Few enough that you don't need to worry," Kogasa said, despite there not being anyone else there. "I won't have any difficulty taking them out."

Kogasa grabbed a Shade and threw it back into another. "You motherfuckers want some of this? Come on, then, assholes! I'll kick the shit out of you!" The she grinned. "Surprised by my language, weren't you? Yeah, that was the idea. Right, now go pay attention to someone else. I have things here under control."

* * *

><p>They all felt it before they saw it, even Yuugi. "Something is coming," Levia said. "A strong presence, similar to Shades but... different. Different too from the giant ones we faced here and at the Aerie."<p>

"I can sense it, too" Nue said.

"Even I can," Yuugi said. "I don't like this."

Byakuren fell to the ground, screaming in pain. _Just when we start to sense this thing,_ Nue thought. _Something tells me that's not a coincidence._

Nue, Yuugi, and Levia were able to take out most of the regular Shades before whatever it was arrived. When it did, Byakuren's screaming ceased as she fell unconscious, but Nue didn't have a chance to run over to her, as the new arrival attacked immediately. Nue met its charge head-on.

The newcomer wielded a spear, although like the 'weapons' of regular Shades, this one seemed more like part of its body than a separate weapon. Nue caught the first thrust between the tines of her trident, but the second came too quickly to repeat this. Nue did manage to dodge, however, and retaliated with a thrust of her own weapon, but her enemy blocked with its spear, lodging the weapon between the tines and using this as leverage to wrench the trident from Nue's hand.

Nue evaded the next strike as she called her trident back to her, but she barely managed to grab it before the enemy knocked her back with a kick. And it didn't give Nue time to recover, pressing the attack aggressively. Nue defended as best she could, but she simply couldn't keep up, and got knocked into the wall of the library.

Yuugi came in next, but none of her strikes found their mark; the creature was simply too quick. _Damn it,_ Nue thought as she got to her feet, _we're too worn out. I could take this thing if I hadn't been fighting so much, but after Rubrum and this extended battle, I'm too tired, and the same is true for Yuugi and Levia._

Levia came in as the creature knocked Yuugi away, wrapping her whip around its spear. She pulled back, pulling the creature towards her, and tried to strike it, but as with Yuugi, her strikes failed to land. The creature evaded every one, even letting go of its own weapon when needed, indicating that the weapon wasn't actually truly part of it. _Or it could be a detachable part,_ Nue thought as she ran in. _I wouldn't find that hard to believe at all, not after all the other crazy shit we've seen from these things._

Levia released the spear from her whip, and the weapon immediately returned to its wielder. She tried to wrap her whip around the enemy, but it leapt over the whip, landing behind Levia and tossing her to the ground before she could react.

Nue came in again, but again, she only got herself knocked aside. Yuugi and Levia tried to double-team it, but that didn't work either. The creature attacked both with blasts of some sort of shadowy energy, and while both managed to dodge, it gave the creature an opportunity to target Yuugi specifically, grabbing her arm and throwing her into Yuugi.

[end BGM]

Nue tried again, and failed again. So did Yuugi, and Levia as well. Nue, once more on the ground against the wall of the library, tried to get up again, but then something else was there, and Nue heard something in her head. A word. A name? _Shadowlord. _A command? _Unify. _Some force knocked her down as the enemy took Yuugi and Levia down again. And then the door to the schoolhouse flew open.

[BGM=/watch?v=r6tCs6o9XBo]

Keine stepped out of the schoolhouse. "You." Her gaze wax fixed on the new enemy. "I can sense you. You're different. You lead them, don't you? You are the Shade's lord."

"It's called... the Shadowlord," Nue managed to say.

Keine didn't look away from the creature. "Shadowlord. Whatever. You lead them. You're responsible for all of this. All of it! Everything the Shades have done! Every life they've claimed! Reimu, Yukari in fixing the barrier, all of them! All the people they've killed, all the damage they've done, all of it! And you're responsible for the Black Scrawl, too, aren't you? The people it's claimed, is claiming! Byakuren! The two Celestials it's killed! And you, _you,_ are why Tenshi is gone from my life, you and your Shades! Well, guess what?" Keine drew her sword. "That ends right here, right now. For what you've done to others, and to me, I will kill you right now!"

Keine charged the creature, the 'Shadowlord', head-on, and it met her charge. But unlike Nue and the others, Keine kept up with it. She struck, it blocked. It struck, she blocked. She struck, it evaded and countered, she dodged and struck again. It grabbed her, she broke its hold. It hit her, she hit back.

_That's not just her being fresh to the fight,_ Nue thought. _She's not that quick, that strong. How is she matching-wait. The full moon was last night. She still feels its effects. Not enough to change her, but enough to strengthen her, make her faster, stronger, tougher. _But even as Nue's thoughts continued, her consciousness lapsed._ She is... stronger... than normal... but... is it... enough?_ And then her consciousness faded, her last sight some sort of object floating in front of her.

* * *

><p>Keine knocked the Shadowlord to the ground, but it flipped over and landed on its feet. But she didn't give it time to react. She pressed the attack, forcing it onto the defensive. Then a Shade came at her from the side. But it didn't reach her; Yuugi grabbed it and tossed it at the Shadowlord, which managed to dodge it. "Levia and I can still handle the little guys. You just kick that Shadowlord thing's ass."<p>

Keine kept up the attack. "Where's Nue?"

"Unable to assist," Levia said. "Something is attacking her mind; I can sense it."

Keine parried a thrust from the Shadowlord's spear and landed a kick. "That won't work. She has a strong mind."

"Then we'll let her handle that," Yuugi said. "We'll keep the regular Shades busy, so you just focus on taking out the boss."

"With pleasure."

The Shadowlord came at Keine again, but Keine grabbed it and tossed it into the air. She leapt after it, intending to slam it back into the ground, but it veered away from her and rose higher into the air. _It can fly, then._

The Shdowlord released a barrage of lasers, its fire quite different from that of regular Shades. Keine expertly weaved through its fire and countered with her own, but the Shadowlord evaded just as capably. It began firing the same shadowy blasts it had previously hit Yuugi and Levia with, but unlike them, Keine was able to evade, although this was more difficult than expected, as the blasts proved to have some homing capability.

Keine deployed a field of familiars, which began firing lasers. The Shadowlord successfully weaved through them, but Keine used the opportunity to close in and slice through the middle of it. Like regular Shades, the Shadowlord didn't show any visible damage, but that didn't stop Keine, who cut through it again and again. It dashed back, releasing a storm of shots as it did so, but the lasers from Keine's familiars cleared multiple paths through them, and with the Shadowlord still having to evade the lasers, Keine had little difficulty catching up with it. It fired more of its shadowy blasts, aiming them at Keine's familiars, but although this did destroy most of the familiars, Keine had closed the distance.

The Shadowlord formed a pair of shadowy nodes of some kind, which moved to the side and began firing large numbers of normal Shade-style shots. _Familiars? Fine, then._ Keine deployed more familiars of her own. Her familiars' shots canceled out some of the nodes' shots, but there were enough that the remaining number was still significant. But Keine moved successfully through the remaining shots while engaging the Shadowlord at melee range. The Shadowlord evaded just as successfully, it and Keine weaving through the fire as their weapons clashed. They dodged, struck, blocked, struck countered, evaded, struck again, and despite the Shadowlord's best efforts, it was Keine who had the upper hand.

Eventually, the Shadowlord began to descend, trying to break away from Keine, but Keine caught up with it and grabbed hold of it. "You want to go down? Then let's go down!" She dragged the Shadowlord down with her and threw it into the ground in front of the library, landing next to it. It leapt to its feet and dashed away from Keine, coming to a halt next to the unconscious Byakuren.

* * *

><p>[BGM=watch?v=rFxDHnZ2BDc]

_Emptiness. Nothing but empty space all around her, except for the object flowing in front of her. _That looks like the tablet,_ Nue thought,_ just a different color. _This one was black, and the pieces within it, all eight of them, were white._

You must unite yourself with me.

A voice in my head,_ Nue thought. _Guess that thing can think, if its communicating. _"And why should I?"_

Irrelevant. Instructions are to be followed. They should not be questioned.

"_Yeah? Well, sorry, but I'm not the type to mindlessly follow anyone's orders, much less those of some... thing that came out of nowhere."_

Choice was not to be part of the equation. You should not be questioning instructions; you should be obeying them.

"_Yeah, not happening. Besides, given that you look like the tablet I have, and that you chose to show up during the current attack, I'm assuming you're with the Shades."_

And thus instructions are to be obeyed without question.

"_What, so the Shades should be in charge just because of what they are? We should all do everything you say just because you're Shades?"_

As it was before. Before was as it should be, but change was necessary. Now, it is time to return to what was before. But you resist.

"_Of course we resist. Why the hell wouldn't we resist you?"_

Because resistance requires choice, something you were meant to be incapable of. It requires will, something you were not meant to have. But there has been ample time to compensate for this change in parameters. You bear my other half. You must unify with me. There is no other possibility. If you will not obey, your will will be overridden.

_Nue felt it immediately. A force acting on her mind, trying to force its will upon her. And she resisted. "That's not going to work."_

_The force intensified. _There is no alternative outcome. Resistance is only a delay.

"_I don't think so."_

_The force intensified again._

"_Still not good enough. You don't know who you're dealing with, do you? I'm a shapeshifter. And when you can change your form, it's easy to lose yourself. To succumb to impulses you didn't realize your form would bring. To forget who and even what you truly are. It takes a strong mind to avoid this. An ironclad sense of self. The ability to recognize and resist any compulsions or distractions. An unbreakable focus. Which, incidentally, is also what it takes to resist mental influences such as the one you're attempting to exert."_

Submission is not avoidable.

_The force became stronger yet, strong enough that Nue began to have a little difficulty holding it off. But she was still succeeding. "You are not... going to control me..." she gathered her mental strength and _pushed_, "so get out of my head!"_

* * *

><p>[BGM=watch?v=MH9BsU-TULM]

Nue returned to consciousness and leapt to her feet. She was still worn, but she knew she would need to fight. Whatever had tried to control her would be nearby, she knew, and in fact it was right in front of her, just as she's seen it within her mind. A tablet like her own but black, the eight pieces within it white. But it was the scene beyond the tablet that truly caught her attention.

Keine was facing the Shadowlord, her weapon drawn, and she bore clear signs of having been in a fierce battle. But she didn't look as though she'd lost. It was hard to tell the Shadowlord's condition, but Nue would have guessed that it was on the losing end. Except that she didn't consider that at all, because something else was more important: the Shadowlord had Byakuren.

Byakuren was being held in the Shadowlord's arms, unconscious. Nue moved towards it, but the tablet positioned itself in her way and fired multiple lasers at her, forcing her to back away in order to have room to slip between them. Keine, however, didn't have it in her way. She charged the Shadowlord, but the Shadowlord didn't meet her charge. Nue, unable to reach it, could only watch as it flew away with Byakuren. "Byakuren!"

The tablet took advantage of Nue's distraction and struck her head-on with a beam, knocking her back against the library wall. Then Keine was there, knocking it to the side and pulling Nue to her feet. "You okay?"

"What are you still doing here? That thing has Byakuren! Go after it!"

"I can take it one-on-one, but I think you know it wouldn't be one-on-one. That thing'll have help from other Shades, and I can't handle it and other Shades without help of my own. And none of you are in any shape to pursue."

Nue wanted to protest, but she knew better. "You're right. Sorry."

"No problem."

"Help me here, then, because this isn't over yet."

"That was my intention," Keine said. She took position next to Nue, facing the tablet.

In an instant, the tablet changed. No longer a tablet in shape, it now had the form of a book, much like Rubrum, altough this book was black with white pages. And a different word was on its spine. "'Noir', huh?" Nue said.

"One name's as good as any other," Keine said. "Let's kick this 'Noir' thing's ass."

Noir released six pages, which formed into a line with Noir in the middle and three pages on either side of it. Four of the pages began firing large, square blocks of shots, while the pages in the middle of each set of three fired sprays. But there was something different about these sprays; about a third of their shots were black, rather than the usual pink. Every so often, one of the blocks would be composed of black shots, too.

Nue swept a beam through the field of shots and immediately discovered the difference between the two colors of shots; the pink ones she was able to destroy, but not the black ones. Keine had charged in immediately, relying on Nue to clear a path, and found herself heading directly towards a block of black shots. She jumped to the side in an attempt to dodge, while at the same time instinctively slashing with her sword. And though Nue's shots had been unable to destroy the black shots, the sword still succeeded. Between that and the dodge, Keine managed to avoid all but a couple shots, which didn't slow her down much as she continued in. Nue, meanwhile, formed green UFOs and aimed them at the pages. These pages, unlike Rubrum's, weren't destroyed, although the beams did cut down on the number of ordinary shots there were to deal with.

Keine reached Noir and cut through it repeatedly, although as with ordinary Shades, there was no visible damage. After several slashes, Noir moved away, and the pattern of its pages shots shifted. Keine, again covered by Nue, moved in and attacked again, until Noir once more relocated itself. This repeated three more times, until Noir began wavering back and forth in midair, its pages vanishing. Keine kept up the attack, and Nue ran in to join her. After several hits, there was a cracking sound, and a burst of what appeared to be shredded paper, except that it vanished less than a second later. The two of them kept of the attack, and this happened two more times until a black mass of some sort burst out from Noir, shooting out black spines seemingly at random. Keine was able to evade them, but Nue was not; one of the spines pierced her through the chest.

The spikes and the black mass retracted into Noir. Keine charged it, but it flew away rapidly, and as with the Shadowlord, Keine elected not to pursue. Instead, she knelt down beside Nue. "Nue! Are you okay?"

[end BGM]

"I'm... fine," Nue said. "I like to... move move the important parts around a bit when I'm fighting. Makes it hard for someone to target them. One of the... benefits of being a shapeshifter."

"I see. And the wound on its own won't be dangerous, not for a youkai."

"For some weaker youkai it might be, but even though I'm not among the toughest physically, you're right; this wound is nothing all that serious." She looked around. "Doesn't... look like there are any other Shades here. Yuugi and Levia must be checking the rest of the village."

"And Suika?"

"If she's done with her previous opponent, then yes, she probably is, too."

"Then we'll leave that to them," Keine said. "Your wound may not be deadly, but with it combined with how exhausted you are, you're not in any shape to fight. You should rest for a bit. Come on, let's get you inside."

* * *

><p>Mokou didn't know why it had taken her so long, but she eventually realized that yes, there was something she could do about her past actions. After all, what she'd meant to do was what Kaguya already had done, so why should the similarities end there?<p>

Mokou wrote a brief note. She knew very well Kaguya would return here, regardless of what had been said earlier, and she left the note where the other immortal would see it. Then she left, taking one last look at a place she knew she wouldn't be seeing for quite some time.

* * *

><p>The giant creature's head was quick, dashing around Suika and lashing out with its tentacles, but that seemed to be all it could do. When Suika managed to grab hold of one of the tentacles, the creature attacked her with the others, but they were too weak to do anything to Suika. Suika held onto the creature's tentacle with one hand and hit it with the other, over and over. She slammed it into the ground a few times, hit it some more, slammed it down again, and simply kept going until it was dead, its form dissipating like its body had.<p>

_Right,_ Suika thought, _better head to the schoolhouse and the library, make sure the others have things in hand._

As she flew towards the library, she saw that its area, and the village as a whole, were mostly clear of Shades. There were a few stragglers, though, so she diverted to go take them out.

* * *

><p>The day was becoming night when Kaguya returned to Mokou's house. <em>Hopefully she's calmed down a bit,<em> Kaguya thought, but she didnt know what reaction she'd get. What she wasn't expecting was no reaction at all as she opened the door. "Mokou?"

Kaguya soon noticed a piece of paper. _A note?_ She picked it up and read it. It was short, very short, three words followed by a series of numbers, but it told Kaguya everything she needed to know.

_Five hundred years.  
><em>_22522_

_No,_ Kaguya thought. _Is she going to-_

Kaguya dashed out of the house and took to the air, heading straight for where she knew Mokou's destination to be.

* * *

><p>[bgm=watch?v=cu7QvOQKcKk]

After some consideration, Mystia and the Prismrivers had decided to go ahead with their show, though they did make some changes. Rather than performing in the restaurant, they were in the village square, and almost everyone in the village was present. The ones still alive, at least.

"_I'm so tired of being here  
><em>_Suppressed by all my childish fears  
><em>_And if you have to leave  
><em>_I wish that you would just leave  
><em>_Your presence still lingers here  
><em>_And it won't leave me alone_

__These wounds won't seem to heal  
><em>__This pain is just too real  
><em>_There's just too much that time cannot erase_

Thanks to Suika's warning and the efforts of her, Nue, Yuugi, and others, casualties weren't all that bad. Most of the humans who'd gone to fight were dead, and some people hadn't made it to the library and schoolhouse, or had chosen not to go in the first place, and they were dead, too. But the library and schoolhouse had been defended successfully. There had been damage, and a few people had been crushed by debris, but those numbers were small. Still, everyone in the village knew at least someone who had died. And the damage done was greater than the lives that were lost.

The people of the village had known that danger was a part of their lives, but even so, they'd mostly considered the village to be safe. They'd known the Shades would periodically attack, but they'd also know that every time, the village was defended and the Shades were destroyed before much harm was done. But not this time. This time, the Shades had made it into the village, all the way to the library and schoolhouse where they'd taken shelter. And the deaths, though far fewer than they might have been, were still a significant number. Those who remained had seen first-hand that their thoughts of safety had been an illusion. They were shaken, and badly. And, worse, if not for the timely arrival of Mystia and the Prismrivers, not to mention Suika's warning, things would have been far worse, and the Shade attack may well not have been stopped. Only luck had saved them, and they knew it. Next time, if there was a next time, they couldn't rely on that luck to save them again.

But regardless of how the people felt, regardless of what would come, their lives had to continue. They had to go on with their lives, and that was why Mystia had decided she would still perform. People would find momentary distraction in her show, sure, but it would also be a way to show them that things could return to normal, that their lives could continue. But the songs had to be chosen carefully; the people weren't in any mood for an upbeat, happy show. That wouldn't reach them, not now. So Mystia knew shed have to stick with songs that wouldn't push them away. Fortunately, that wasn't a problem. She had plenty of songs that fit the bill.

_"You used to captivate me  
>By your resonating light<br>__Now I'm bound by the life you left behind  
>Your face it haunts<br>My once pleasant dreams  
>Your voice it chased away<br>All the sanity in me"_

Nue watched, thinking of Byakuren, who for some reason had been taken by the Shadowlord, and resolved not to stop until she'd found it and gotten Byakuren back. Keine watched, and her thoughts were of Tenshi. Yuugi's and Suika's were of their people, who had lost even more to the Shades. And below the ground, away from the sound but no less emotional, Mokou stood in front of a door in the Palace of the Earth Spirits, a door beyond which was the chamber in which Kaguya had been trapped for five hundred years.

"_These wounds won't seem to heal  
><em>_This pain is just too real  
><em>_There's just too much that time cannot erase"_

For a while, Mokou could only stare at the door, but eventually, she entered the code to open it. She stared into the chamber beyond, the magic field still there, keeping the sun inside contained.

Mokou was mostly undressed. She wore only minimal covering; anything that entered the chamber with her would be incinerated in seconds, even with the best protection she could give it. This way, she would lose little. But before she could get up the nerve to step through, someone called out to her. "Mokou, wait!"

Mokou looked over as Kaguya ran up. "What are you doing?"

"The same thing that was done to you," Mokou said.

"Come on, Mokou. Utsuho threw me in there, not you. Stop blaming yourself for that. Please."

"It's not about that, Kaguya. It never was. That was a lie. After you were thrown in, I went to Eientei, intending to do you the people you cared about what you did to Satori. Only the fact that Eientei had already changed stopped me."

"...Oh."

"The same crime, the same punishment."

"Oh, come on, Mokou. You didn't actually kill anyone. Sure, you wanted to, but anyone could have such impulses. Hell, when he exiled me, part of me wanted to kill my father. Does that mean I should be treated as though I did kill him?"

"It wasn't just an impulse. I would have acted on it. The only reason I didn't was because I couldn't find Eirin or Reisen or anyone else. I didn't just want to do it; I _tried_ to do it."

"So you're just going to jump in there?"

"For five hundred years. The same amount of time you spent in there."

"You don't need to do this, Mokou. Please, come back to the surface with me. We can find another way to-"

"Don't you get it? There's no 'we'! There can't be! You think I deserve to be with-"

Mokou cut off, clearly surprised by what she'd started to say. Even Kaguya was silent for a few moments, thinking, processing this. Coming to realize that yes, the signs were there, had been there for a long time. _But neither of us realized it._ "I feel I should apologize," Kaguya said. "It seems there was far more to this than I realized. What you're feeling isn't a simple as ordinary guilt. The actions you meant to take would have hurt someone you cared about, even though you weren't consciously aware that you'd come to care about her."

"You think I _care_ about you?"

"Don't you? Have I not been the one thing in your life you could always count on? How many times have you come for me after an upsetting experience, after something had hurt you emotionally, when you didn't know what to do? I didn't realize it, either, but I was something you knew would be there, wouldn't change. That's why you've never stopped attacking me, isn't it? No matter what happened, you could always come to me, and though we fought, it was still a comfort." And as she Spoke, Kaguya realized that her words applied to her as well.

Mokou wanted to scream at Kaguya, to tell her she was crazy, but... she couldn't. Once again, Kaguya was right. Somehow, at some point, Mokou had come to care for her enemy. But... "You're not going to talk me out of this, Kaguya. It's the only way I can atone for my actions, by subjecting myself to the same thing you experienced."

"Mokou, don't! It's not just you. It's me, too. I'm like you; I needed a constant. Something, some_one_, I could know would always be there. I care, too, Mokou. I don't want you to do this to yourself."

"_When you cried, I'd wipe away all your tears  
><em>_When you'd scream, I'd fight away all your fears  
><em>_I held your hand through all of these years"_

"Promise me, Kaguya. Promise me you won't pull me out for five hundred years."

"I..."

"The same experience you had, Kaguya. Promise me you won't pull me out until I've had that."

Silence.

"Promise me, Kaguya."

"...Very well."

"_When you cried, I'd wipe away all your tears"_

Mokou turned away from Kaguya, facing the open door into the chamber.

"_When you'd scream, I'd fight away all your fears"_

Mokou took a step forward. Then another step.

"_I held your hand through all of these years"_

She was there now. She hesitated only for another second, then stepped forward, into the chamber. Into the sun.

"_But you still have"_

Kaguya stood still for a moment, then walked up to the panel beside the door and pushed the button labeled 'Close', and the door closed. _2-2-5-2-2 to open it, then. But not yet. Not until she's ready to forgive herself._

Kaguya walked away, giving the door only a single look back. _Goodbye, Mokou. We'll see each other again, but until then, goodbye. _She turned away from the door and kept going, leaving Mokou and her self-inflicted hell behind.

"_All of me."_

* * *

><p><strong>...Yeah.<strong>

**We're now at the midpoint of the story. This is the point where NieR has a five-year timeskip. I generally dislike timeskips, but here, I don't see a way to really make things work without having one. It's going to be much smaller than NieR's, though (in fact, the exact about of time that will be skipped has actually been stated earlier on).**

**So yeah, a lot happened in this chapter. In fact, it's officially my longest one ever, breaking the record I set only a couple chapters ago. And it was an eventful chapter, too. The Shades attacked, we've now seen their leader, and Byakuren's been taken. By the way, the name 'Shadowlord' comes from NieR; I think it's kind of a stupid-sounding name, but whatever. Oh, and for those who may be wondering, the giant creature was the Knave of Hearts, a fairy-tale reference just like the names of most of NieR's bosses (this one being a reference to _Alice in Wonderland_).**

**I know I said there wouldn't be much from DDC characters, but Sekibanki managed to show up anyways. Since she's apparently been living in the human village, it seemed natural to have her still doing so.**

**I've seen a lot of scenes in a lot of stories where some supporting character fights the enemy boss, and that character almost inevitably loses, basically to allow the main character(s) to fight it and win (although this usually happens near the end, rather than halfway through like what happened here). I don't like that, so Keine won her fight.**

**In NieR, the Shadowlord and Shades just leave on their own after the main characters lose the battle, but I decided to do it differently, because I don't like it when the antagonists just leave the protagonists alive like that. So I had their attack beaten and the Shadowlord and Noir driven off, but the end result is the same. The village is still damaged, people still died, and Byakuren was taken.**

**And now we get to the Kaguya/Mokou bit. The fact that they have feelings for each other shouldn't surprise anyone who's read my previous Touhou fics, as I'm a fan of that particular pairing and have used it before. Although this time it's a little more complicated, and not just because of the situation between the two of them. Don't forget that in this story, Mokou already loves Utsuho.**

**I hope the Mokou/Kaguya scenes didn't come across as overly cheesy or anything. I don't really have any experience with scenes like that, so I'm not sure if how I did it works. So please let me know. ****This chapter also had a lot of fighting, and I've already mentioned that I have difficulties with those scenes. I'm working on it, though, so please let me know how I did here.**

**One final note: the song I used at the end, for those of you who didn't listen to any of the music (in which case, go back and listen to it. Seriously) and are wondering, is _My immortal_ by Evanescence.**

**And finally, I'll say what I always say: reviews are appreciated. I'm pretty disappointed that I got none of the last chapter, so please, everyone, at least say _something_. I'm sure there's _something_ you have to say about this chapter, with all that happened in it, so please, even if it's just a 'good job' or 'I liked it' or even 'I didn't like it', please say it.**

**Well, I think that's everything I have to say here. See you next chapter.**


	14. Chapter 14: Search

**Chapter 14  
><strong>_Search_

She stood at the gates of hell. A personal hell, meant for her but currently occupied by another.

She stepped up to the keypad and entered the code, and the door slid open, revealing the fires within.

The anti-fire charms she had prepared would burn up in seconds, so once she was in, she would have to move fast. She sent a spray of tiny, harmless shots into the chamber and paid attention, sensing where they made impact. Most hit the sides of the chamber, but some hit the one within the chamber, revealing to her the person's location within it.

[BGM=/watch?v=bq669lEYA8I]

She waited for the precisely correct moment, and then Kaguya Houraisan leapt into the fire.

It was a straight shot in to grab the body, and then back out. By the time she emerged, Kaguya's clothing was completely incinerated, but that was why she'd worn only the most basic of clothing. She herself was charred somewhat, but her body quickly healed. The one she'd retrieved was in rather worse condition, but it, too, healed. After all, both Kaguya and Fujiwara no Mokou were immortal.

Kaguya retrieved a pile of clothes she'd placed by the door and dressed herself, then dressed the unconscious Mokou. _Good thing she's unconscious. She'd probably object to being pulled out so soon, and I'd rather not deal with that while we're still down here._ Unlike Kaguya, Mokou's mind had not been locked in eternity; her unconsciousness was entirely natural. She'd doubtless slipped into unconsciousness repeatedly as the pain of her situation overwhelmed her mind. That had certainly been Kaguya's experience, and part of the reason it had taken her as long as it had to lock her mind in eternity. Mokou would likely wake more quickly than Kaguya had, but for now, she was unconscious.

As a final step, Kaguya retrieved her and Mokou's swords from where she'd left then by the door. With her sword where it belonged and Mokou's returned to her, Kaguya picked Mokou up and flew down the corridor.

Kaguya didn't know the Palace of the Earth Spirits nearly as well as Mokou did, one of the reasons it had taken her as long as it had to find Mokou in front of the chamber a month ago, but she'd memorized the route through it since then, and headed directly for the reactor and its exit to the world above. She met no opposition on her way out, soon emerging into Gensokyo's night sky.

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>[BGM=watch?v=2NSRM_UWMA4]

_It's been a month since the Shades took Byakuren. I spend every waking moment searching for her, but so far I've found nothing._

_It feels like the world is winding down. The issues with infertile land have been worsening, and hunting animals has become extremely dangerous. The Shades are everywhere now. Ever since the attack, they've been roaming the land in greater numbers than before. And the Black Scrawl, too, has worsened. Cases of it are becoming far more common, and there's still no way to cure it. Between it and everything else, there's no telling how long the village will last. The end has never felt so close._

_But I don't care._

_My life now is hunting Shades, searching for anything that could lead me to the Shadowlord. To Byakuren. The search has so far been fruitless, but I will find Byakuren eventually. I believe that._

_...I have to._

* * *

><p>Nue returned home after spending the evening at Lorelei's. Levia and Yuugi had chosen not to accompany her-Yuugi'd dragged Levia to the tavern again-so she'd instead gone with Mamizou.<p>

Nue still lived in the home she'd shared with Byakuren. Technically, Yuugi had taken up residence in one of the spare rooms, but she spent just just as many, if not more, nights at the tavern after passing out while drinking. And Levia, who'd been given a room in the house from the beginning, often ended up at the tavern with her. Nazrin also resided in the house, and she was waiting when Nue entered.

"Hey, Nue," Nazrin said. "Got word from Ari. She says she's found something."

"Really?" Nue said. "I checked in with her this morning, and she didn't have anything."

"Apparently she just found it not that long ago."

"She probably wouldn't like it if I went to her this late, though," Nue said. "I'll go see her tomorrow morning. For now, I'm going to get some rest."

* * *

><p><em>We barely managed to fight off the Shade attack. A lot of the people were nervous about the idea of Yuugi, Levia, and I, or any set of one or two of us, being out of the village away, as it took all of us to stop the attack. And some help from Suika and some other visitors. I, too, wondered what might happen if another attack came, but fortunately, we've found ourselves with some assistance.<em>

_The oni lost their home to the Shades a month before the attack on the human village, and after seeing how close we came to the same loss, they decided they weren't going to let it happen again. These days, there are several oni in the village at any given time. They rotate in every couple days, presumably so none of them have to be away from their own home for too long. Their absence from the Forest of Myth doesn't make it vulnerable, of course; there are more than enough of them in their own village to handle any sort of attack._

_Thanks to the oni, the village is secure. Or as close to it as one can get these days, at least. Which leaves me free to hunt Shades, and to continue my search for Byakuren._

* * *

><p>Yuugi took another drink, then let out a massive belch. "You seem to take pleasure in doing that," Levia said.<p>

"More in having gotten to the point where it happens," Yuugi said before taking another drink. "Ahh, that's good stuff."

"I truly cannot understand how you find pleasure in that activity."

"Doesn't really matter, does it?"

"I suppose not. I only ask that you not expect me to participate."

"That's fine," Yuugi said, "but if you don't want to have any, why do you come here with me?"

"You're the one who always brings be here. 'Drags me', as Nue phrases it."

"Still your choice to come."

"A true statement, I suppose."

"So why do you?"

"This place," Levia said, "this 'tavern', confuses me. It and others of its like seem to have a significant place in the lives of many people. Your people come here often, but I am able to tell that they do so because they, like you, enjoy it. But many of the humans seem to attach some manner of importance to this place. For some of them, coming here seems to be almost ritualistic. I do not understand any of this."

"I can't really explain it, myself," Yuugi said. "I just enjoy the stuff; I don't have any sort of attachment, and there's certainly no tavern that's emotionally significant to me. But that's just how life works. A lot of times, you won't understand why people think the way they think."

"That is not an idea I am accustomed to."

"You should probably get used to it, then, 'cause people do a lot of odd things. Even with an empathic sense, I'm sure you'll find a lot you just don't understand."

"And this is normal. Ordinary."

"Yep."

"Then I have little choice but to accustom myself to it."

"You've got that right," Yuugi said.

* * *

><p><em>Some things have changed since the attack, while others have not.<em>

_Yuugi has, for the most part, remained in the village and continued to accompany me, although not all the time. My focus is on finding Byakuren; hers is on killing Shades. These two objectives often fit well together, but sometimes they do not. Yuugi chose not to accompany me when I visited the Garden of the Sun, for example. I went there trying to find the lock, but as there are few Shades there, Yuugi chose not to come._

_Levia has also chosen to remain in the village. She accompanies me as well, although when Yuugi and I separate, she generally goes with Yuugi. She seems to be quite fond of Yuugi. It's strange, really. She never struck me as the type to have feelings for someone, but her relationship with Yuugi, while not at that level yet, does seem to be heading in that direction. I do know that Levia has been making progress at adapting to having an actual life, rather than existing just to end the world, and Yuugi's been helping her with that. Maybe that's a factor, but then again, maybe not._

_Keine has improved significantly since the attack, or, more accurately, since learning earlier that day of heaven's decision to isolate itself. If I had to describe her mood now, I'd say 'anticipatory'. She's waiting for something, and not the full moon. We just had that, and as far as I know, Keine didn't change anything. Tenshi's not here, at least, so it seems Keine was able to resist any desire to alter history such that she and Tenshi were never separated. It took me longer than it should have to realize what Keine is waiting for, and now that I have realized this, I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet._

_Mira is with child. She doesn't know which of the men she'd been choosing impregnated her, and she doesn't care. She intends to raise the child as a child of the Hakurei. She's not very far along, of course, as she only began seeking a child a month ago. At this point, a lot of people wouldn't even know they were pregnant, but Mira can sense the child within her. She says she can't use that to determine the father's identity-apparently how long it takes from fertilization to her being able to sense the child is highly variable, though I didn't understand her explanation as to why this is-but as I said before, she doesn't care._

_Ari is still looking into the Shades and the Black Scrawl. She hasn't been having much success, although from what Nazrin said, it sounds as though this may have changed. Mamizou still spends much of her time at the tavern, listening to gossip and rumor. Mystia and the Prismrivers still perform at Mystia's restaurant. Little has changed for most of the villagers, too. The children still need to be tended to, the fields still need to be worked, and so on. There were lives lost in the attack, yes, but for the survivors, life goes on._

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>When Mokou awoke, Kaguya was there waiting, seated on a rock. "Kaguya," Mokou said, pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Where... am I?"<p>

"The bamboo forest," Kaguya said. "The same spot you brought me to after you pulled me out of there."

"I'll... admit that I lost track of time in there," Mokou said, "but I really don't think that was five hundred years."

_Cutting straight to it, as I expected._ "You were in there for exactly twenty-nine days, one hour, fifty-four minutes, and three seconds. The precise period, to the second, during which I was in there and aware, before locking my mind in eternity."

Mokou sighed and got to her feet. "I thought you might try that."

Kaguya got to her feet as well. "It seems appropriate to me. You thought you should endure the same thing I did to atone for what you consider to be the same actions, yet if I had left you in there for five hundred years, you would have suffered far more. This way, it was the same for both of us."

"I don't care about your 'awareness', Kaguya. You were in there for five hundred years, so I'll be in there for just as long. And even if I thought you did have a point, you were removed from that chamber five hundred years later. I was removed a month later. Even if I agreed that our experiences were the same aside from that-and I don't-that's still a pretty significant difference. Even if the Radiance hadn't happened, five hundred years would have made for a world unfamiliar to you. But I was only in there for a month. I'm guessing Gensokyo's still pretty much the same. I wasn't in there for nearly as long as you were."

"You also didn't actually kill anyone," Kaguya said. "You meant to, but you didn't. I did kill someone. I think that's more than enough to make up for the fact that I woke up in an unfamiliar world and you didn't."

"I don't expect to be able to convince you. But you promised to leave me in there for five hundred years."

"I lied. I could point out that, technically, what I said 'yes' to was the part about you going through the same experience as me, but regardless, the truth is that I never intended to leave you in there for five hundred years."

"Typical. Fortunately, correcting for your actions is simple."

_Intent to return to that chamber. As expected. _"I'm not letting you jump back in there."

"Oh? And what are you going to do? Kill me?"

[BGM=/watch?v=gSdY8rrwafU]

Kaguya drew her sword. "If I have to." _Yeah, I thought I've have to do it this way._ "It's not like you'll stay dead."

Mokou drew her own sword. "Which is why not even that'll work. What, did you think you could pull me out after a month and suddenly everything would be better?"

"Isn't that what you were hoping being in there for five hundred years would do? Make you feel better? That's not how it works, Mokou. You'll still feel guilt. I still feel guilt over what happened to Satori; do you think you'd be any different?"

"It's not about guilt. It's about what I deserve."

_Now for the tricky part._ "Bullshit. You're doing this so you don't have to deal with your guilt. You're just running away."

"Excuse me?"

"You're just running from what you did. You're a coward, Mokou."

"I'm not running from what I did. I'm facing it by putting myself through the same experience you had."

_Not angry enough. I'll have to go a little further._ Kaguya shook her head. "Typical. Can't face the consequences of your own actions. Like father, like daughter, I suppose. Got your cowardice from him, too."

_That_ got a reaction. "How dare you!" Mokou charged Kaguya and struck with her sword.

Kaguya blocked Mokou's attack, the two of them locking blades. "What's wrong? Upset I won't let you hide from the truth?"

Mokou pulled back and swung her sword in from the side. Kaguya moved to block again, but Mokou tossed hers to her other hand, taking Kaguya's blade in her arm in exchange for sinking her own into Kaguya's chest, though it landed such that she knew she'd missed Kaguya's heart. Kaguya kicked Mokou back, and since she didn't release her grip, the sword was pulled out as she was knocked back. Kaguya ran in, only to take a direct hit from a massive blast of fire, sending her flying back. She recovered quickly enough to avoid hitting anything, but Mokou came charging in immediately. But Kaguya still had enough time to react, shoving her own sword into Mokou's chest and through her heart.

Kaguya pulled her sword out, took a few steps back, and waited for Mokou to resurrect. When she did, she leapt to her feet and immediately charged Kaguya, who leapt into the air and opened fire on her. Mokou took to the air herself, weaving through Kaguya's fire as she closed the distance quickly, coming in with a strike at Kaguya's head that Kaguya was able to block. "Is that all you've got?" Kaguya said.

Mokou came in with a high slash, then a low slash, then a stab, then another slash, but Kaguya matched her strike-for-strike. "You just shut up!" Mokou said. "Just shut up!"

Another series of strikes and counter-strikes. "There's no more running away for you, Mokou."

Strike. Block. Strike. Counter. Evade. Strike. Parry. Counter. Block. "You have no right to talk about running away! You ran from what you did to my father, to who knows how many other men! You ran and hid rather than face judgment for your actions!"

Strike. Block. Strike. Block. Strike. Counter. Block. "I was hiding from Lunarian emissaries, not from you. I know what I did to you, to others whose fathers, brothers, sons lost their lives to my challenges. I know, and I have to deal with the guilt every day. The difference is that I've accepted it, while you're still trying to purge it."

Strike. Counter. Strike. Counter. Strike. Counter. "Don't think you know how I feel!"

Overhead strike. Block. Strike from the side. Parry. Overhead strike. Evade and counter. Block. Stab. Parry. Strike from the side. Block. "Why not? Haven't you been saying we committed the same wrong?"

"Just shut up!"

Mokou came in from the side again, but this time, Kaguya let her blade lodge in her side, using the opportunity to thrust her own at Mokou's chest. But Mokou, clearly anticipating the move, flipped over Kaguya and grabber her, dragging her towards the ground. Kaguya, however, didn't just wait for the impact. She thrust her blade backwards, forcing Mokou to dodge and remove hers from Kaguya's side. Kaguya flipped over, breaking free of Mokou's grip just a second before impact, and kicked Mokou into the ground. Kaguya came down on top of her, plunging her sword through Mokou's heart.

Kaguya backed off again as Mokou resurrected, upon which she once again charged in immediately. Kaguya dodged to the side, but Mokou anticipated the move and was already aiming a blast of fire that way. Kaguya, however, expected that, and had already leapt into the air, passing over Mokou and thrusting her sword down. Mokou reacted quickly enough to grab the blade at the point, letting it cut into her hand as she pushed up, resulting in the hilt smacking Kaguya in the face. She thrust her own sword up, impaling Kaguya's leg as Kaguya finished passing over her. Kaguya plunged forward, but righted herself before hitting the ground, pulling her leg free from Mokou's sword. But Mokou still had Kaguya's sword in her hand, and she swung it into Kaguya's side, then shoved her own through Kaguya's heart.

Mokou dropped Kaguya's sword and backed away as Kaguya resurrected. "Glad to see you're not rusty. This wouldn't be satisfying at all if you couldn't put up a fight."

"I give as good as I get," Kaguya said. "You should know that by now."

The battle continued, the two of them as evenly matched as they'd always been. Mokou struck, Kaguya blocked. Kaguya struck, Mokou parried and countered, Kaguya evaded and struck again. Mokou attacked with fire, Kaguya attacked with her own energies. Kaguya died, then Mokou, then Mokou again, then Kaguya, Mokou, Kaguya, Kaguya, Kaguya, Mokou, Mokou, Kaguya, Mokou, Kaguya, Kaguya, Mokou, Mokou, the two killing each other over and over as the battle drew on, continuing until Kaguya judged the time right.

Mokou ran in again. Kaguya held her sword as though ready to engage, but as Mokou drew close, she instead dropped it, allowing Mokou to impale her in the chest, piercing her heart and killing her, her body falling to the ground.

[end BGM]

When Kaguya resurrected, Mokou was standing a few feet away, staring at her in confusion. "Why did you do that?"

Kaguya got to her feet. "To get you to ask that question."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I wanted to stop the fight, but I knew you wouldn't let me if I just said to stop, so I gave you a reason to want to stop it yourself: so that you could ask me that question."

"...Clever. But you're not using the opportunity to strike against me."

"Because the battle has served its purpose. I have to apologize, Mokou. For what I said before the battle, about you and your father. I meant none of it."

"Then why did you say it?"

"You said a month ago," Kaguya said, "soon after pulling me out, that you were done fighting me. So I had to give you some... encouragement. Had I attacked you, you would have left the first time you killed me. I had to make you choose to fight."

"Why?"

"Well, you feel a bit better now, don't you?"

"...I suppose I do. Is that why you did it? For 'my sake'?"

"There was some selfishness, too. I meant what I said before you entered that chamber. It took me far too long to realize it, but I do care about you. I don't want you subjecting yourself to the torture of that chamber, and I don't want you locked away from me for so long. You were always an element of consistency, Mokou, much as I was to you. And now? Now you're the only remnant of my former life, the only familiar thing I have. If you want our relationship to return to the fighting it once consisted of, I'll accept that. What I won't accept is you leaving me again."

There was a protracted silence. "I don't want to go back in there," Mokou said eventually, "but then, I never wanted to go in there in the first place. I just felt that I had to."

"The one part of what I said before the battle that I did mean," Kaguya said, "is that you were trying to escape your guilt. You thought that by putting yourself through the same thing I experienced, you could free yourself from it. You weren't in there for the same length of time as I was, but you have matched the time I was aware for, was experiencing that torture for. But did it help? Do you feel any less guilty?"

"...No."

"And if you're being honest with yourself, do you really think that would be different if you'd awoken five hundred years later as I did?

"...No. No, I don't."

"But you couldn't admit it. Not until you had the chance to vent some of your frustrations. That's why I provoked you into fighting me."

"So I could let it out."

"It helped, didn't it?"

"...Yes, it did. But, Kaguya..."

"Is it about Utsuho?"

Mokou nodded. "I still love her."

"I have no intention of trying to get between you and her. You two are together, or will be if she ever returns to normal. I realize that. And if she can't forgive me for killing Satori, then I won't try to make her. If she wants, she's welcome to start killing me just like you did. But..."

"You want me there," Mokou said. "Somewhere. I'm the only familiar thing you have."

"Yes."

"...Do you still mean to fight Utsuho?"

"I do. Will you still object to this?"

"...No," Mokou said, "I don't think so. I... don't know how to feel about all this, but I do know one thing: I want Utsuho back. I can focus on that, and the rest... well, I'll figure it out eventually."

"Good enough for me."

* * *

><p><strong>Shortest chapter yet, but it only took me 11 days, so that's something, at least. Right?<strong>

**Anyways, the reason this chapter is as short as it is was because I didn't like the idea of putting scenes after the Mokou/Kaguya fight and its result. I wanted that to end the chapter, and I didn't want there to be much else in the chapter that might distract from it. We checked in on Nue, Yuugi, and Levia, and got a brief overview of what's been going on with some of the other characters, but the focus was on Mokou and Kaguya.**

**I'll admit that I had some misgivings about having Mokou put herself in the sun and get pulled out just a month later. It just seemed a bit cheap to do it that way. I went ahead with it, obviously, because despite feeling that way, I thought it to be the best way to advance that plotline appropriately. Maybe it is a bit cheap, but I think it works well enough anyways.**

**Anyways, that's all I have to say for this chapter, so I'll end, as always, by saying that reviews are very much appreciated.**


	15. Chapter 15: Where it Began

**Chapter 15  
><strong>_Where It Began_

"Nue," Ari said, "Yuugi, Levia, welcome. Please, come in."

Nue had retrieved Yuugi and Levia from the tavern and then gone immediately to Ari's house. "I'm surprised you waited until this morning," Ari said as the three of them entered.

"It was late when I heard you'd found something," Nue said. "I didn't think you'd appreciate me showing up at that hour, and I wouldn't have acted on any information until today anyways. And that's assuming that what you've found is something we can act on."

"It is," Ari said. "I believe I have determined the location of the lock."

When Ari had first learned of the lock, back when Nue was still gathering the eight pieces for the tablet, they'd all assumed that it sealed an important location. They still held that belief, and Nue, for one, was certain that Byakuren lay beyond it. "You have?! Where?"

"The last place you would have looked," Ari said. "The location where you found the tablet. The Dream Palace Great Mausoleum."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm aware that you and Yuugi found nothing of the sort there, and when Miko and her people went to follow up, they, too, found no such thing. But everything I've found points to it as the lock's location."

"Must be well-hidden, then," Nue said. "Or it wasn't there last time. Wouldn't be the strangest thing we've seen from the Shades. What about the key?"

"I have found nothing on the location of the five key fragments."

"Weren't we just going to bust through?" Yuugi said.

"That was before they took Byakuren," Nue said. "You could still break through any physical lock, but I would assume that we're dealing with either a magical lock or a lock with both physical and magical parts. Either way, you won't be able to get us through."

"And we can't just find another magician?"

"Byakuren is the greatest magician still alive today. I doubt we'll find anything beyond her abilities, but we may find something nobody but her could break for us."

"Huh. You think that's why they took her? To keep their lock secure?"

"No. It's possible, but I think the truth is something else. In fact... Ari, have you found anything about where the frame for the key is? The part that the five pieces fit into?"

"I have," Ari said. "I believe you will find it at the lock."

"I thought as much."

"Hold on," Yuugi said. "You think it's _outside_ the lock? Why would the Shades leave an essential piece of the key to what has to be something important to them where anyone could get at it?"

"The tablet," Nue said, "the one we found those eight pieces for. That's the key to all of this. The Shadowlord needs it for... well, for something. But I'm the one who has it. That 'Noir' thing that came with the Shadowlord tried to mind-control me into using it for them. Don't know what it wanted me to do with the thing, though; it didn't get that far. I'm among the hardest people to manipulate the minds of, and I was able to resist it rather effectively. They need that tablet, Yuugi, and they can't steal it, not when it's tied to me in the nether. Only the person who puts something there can get it out. So since they can't take the tablet, they need to force my cooperation. They tried to control my mind directly, but that failed. _That's_ why the Shadowlord took Byakuren."

"So you'd have no choice but to do what they wanted."

"Yes. Presumably, Noir saw something about my feelings for her while it was in my head, so the Shadowlord took her. But Noir clearly didn't see enough, because it won't work."

"Why not?"

"Byakuren can't die, Yuugi."

"She's immortal?"

"Yes, although differently so than Kaguya and Mokou. You know she used to be human?"

"Yeah, I've heard that."

"She had a brother, Myouren. But Myouren died. Illness, I believe. When that happened, Byakuren became terrified of death. She began searching frantically for some way to avoid it, to prevent herself from dying."

"And she found it."

"Yes. Or, more accurately, she found someone who knew of such a way. Shinki, the ruler of Makai."

"Wait, what?"

"Byakuren, believing that Shinki could give her what she sought, performed a summoning ritual, and Shinki responded. And when Byakuren told Shinki what she sought, Shinki gave it to her."

"I've heard stories about Shinki, but can she really do that?"

"She can't just freely make someone immortal," Nue said, "no. What she did was she took several Makai fairies-yes, Makai has fairies-and drained their 'essence' from them. Don't know what someone's 'essence' actually is, but apparently Shinki can take it from beings of Makai. And losing all of it kills you. Shinki took it from several fairies, which allowed her to get enough without killing any of them, and infused Byakuren with it."

"Hold on," Yuugi said. "Are you telling me she's part-fairy?"

"No. The essence did change her, but not into a fairy. Apparently it doesn't work like that. Not that I know how it does work. Nor does Byakuren. I think only Shinki does. Anyways, it's that infusion that made Byakuren into a youkai. And though it didn't make her part-fairy, she does share their immortality."

"Even I did not know this," Ari said. "I doubt, though, that Shinki simply provided this service freely. Surely it had a price."

"Yes, but it wasn't what you might expect. Shinki simply charged Byakuren with helping to ensure the continued existence of youkai and magic in the world. This was well before Gensokyo's separation, and humans were beginning to overrun youkai. That's why Byakuren began aiding youkai."

"I thought she did that freely, of her own will." Yuugi said.

"It became that way very quickly, yes. She started doing it from her deal with Shinki; she kept doing it because she chose to. In fact, she's told me that Shinki doesn't require it any longer, especially since Gensokyo was separated. Magic's not at risk anymore."

"I have one more question," Ari said. "Byakuren was imprisoned in Makai, was she not? Why didn't Shinki free her?"

"Because the humans were clever," Nue said. "At the time, I didn't know what sort of seal would require not just the Hakurei maiden of the time but four others to perform, but Byakuren has since told me. The Hakurei maiden-named Mira, just as the current maiden is-actually wove the seal into the boundary between worlds, which put it beyond Shinki's power to alter-Shinki has absolute power within Makai, but not outside of her realm. And Mira used Byakuren herself as its anchor, which prevented Shinki from simply removing Byakuren from the sealed area. All in all, it was quite expertly done."

"I see."

"I've got a more practical question," Yuugi said. "If you say Byakuren can't die, what makes you think the Black Scrawl can kill her?"

"She doesn't get sick, Yuugi," Nue said. "Just like fairies-and Mokou and Kaguya, too, I believe, though their immortality comes from a different source-no disease can infect her. Byakuren can't have a disease, and yet she does. Somehow, the Black Scrawl was able to infect her, and if it can do that, I expect it can kill her. But I don't intend to let it. Nothing else can kill her, though, which is why using her to force my actions won't work."

"But they don't know that."

"They don't know that." Nue turned back to Ari. "The lock is in the mausoleum, and the key with it."

"I believe so," Ari said.

"Then that's our destination. Yuugi, Levia, let's go."

* * *

><p>"So," Kaguya said as she finished eating, "what's the plan? You still want to do training sessions?"<p>

"Yes," Mokou said, "but differently."

"How so?"

"I did a lot of thinking last night, as I'm sure you realize, and among other things, I considered the conflict with Utsuho, and came to the conclusion that a different approach was necessary. Fighting Utsuho the way we did didn't work."

"Well, yeah. We'll need to cooperate to pull this off. You're not going to try and fight her alone again, are you?"

"I'm not," Mokou said, "but even had we cooperated, I think we'd still have lost. When I face her again-"

"We."

"Right. When we face her again, I'll ne-_we_'ll need a different strategy."

"Yeah, we'll need to cooperate. Fight together, not switch off tag-team style. You want to practice that, then?"

"Probably a good idea, but that's not what I meant by 'new strategy'. I tried-_we_ tried-to fight her on her terms, Kaguya. Maybe it's also the way I- the way we tend to fight, but she can beat us at it. I-we-are going to need to change things, fight her on our terms."

"I take it, then," Kaguya said, "that you have something in mind."

"We use the one thing we undeniably have her beat in. She can overpower us, she can outlast us, but she can't recover the way we can. So we use that. Offense over defense. We rush in and beat her down as quickly as possible, only blocking or evading if absolutely necessary. It doesn't matter if she punches a hole in us; we'll regenerate. It doesn't matter if she takes an arm off; it'll grow back. We press the attack as much as we can, only worrying about defense or evasion if taking a hit would outright kill us or otherwise keep us from attacking. We hit her hard, and we keep hitting her until she can't keep up the fight."

"But not kill her."

"Of course not, but she'll recover. She may not be able to immediately regenerate like we do, but she's tough."

"I think I can handle that." Kaguya paused for a moment. "Mokou, there's something you need to know."

"About Utsuho?"

"Lady Nightbug-and it still feels weird calling her that-has still been keeping watch for Utsuho, and though I haven't actually confronted Utsuho, I have followed her around a couple times without her realizing it. Between what I've seen and what Lady Nightbug has seen, we're fairly sure Utsuho's arrived at a plan for how to get through the border."

"She's not just flailing at it anymore?"

"She's not," Kaguya said. "She has a plan."

"What is it?"

"You told me a bit about what happened over the past five hundred years, and Oricla, the butterfly youkai, has filled me in to a greater extent. Are you aware that during the Radiance, the Hakurei Shrine was destroyed?"

"Yeah," Mokou said, "because that's when Reimu died. Even underground, everyone heard about that pretty much right away. And then Yukari died stabilizing the border."

"Not quite," Kaguya said. "Apparently, Yukari should have been able to hold the border stable long enough for Reimu's daughter to develop to the point where she could withstand the rituals to become the Hakurei maiden. But she couldn't. The border's condition wasn't just due to Reimu's death. When the Shades destroyed the shrine, they somehow damaged the border in a way that wasn't supposed to be possible. _That_'s why fixing it cost Yukari her life."

"All right, but we're talking about Utsuho's plan."

"We are. I believe that Utsuho intends to use whatever power of the Shades enabled them to damage the border."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense. But how would she- no. No. _Please _tell me this isn't going where I think it is."

"I'm afraid it probably is, Mokou. Utsuho intends to consume Shades in the same way she consumed the Yatagarasu."

* * *

><p>"There's something else I just thought of," Yuugi said as she, Nue, and Levia left Ari's house. "Nue, if the Shadowlord wants you to do something, why would it have you assemble the key? Why wouldn't it just open the lock for you?"<p>

"I know what you're getting at," Nue said. "What if the reason Byakuren was taken was to give me a reason to assemble the key, right?"

"Yeah. What if it doesn't intend to force your cooperation by threatening to harm Byakuren? What if all it needed to do was take her and get you thinking you needed to assemble the key in order to rescue her?"

"The possibility has occurred to me," Nue said, "but it's more complicated than that. For one, if assembling the key was all the Shadowlord needed done, why would it need me? Why couldn't it just assemble the key itself?"

"It's the tablet, isn't it? You said they wanted it, that that 'Noir' thing tried to make you do something with it."

"Yes. It's the tablet. They need it for something, but not something that involves the key. Noir tried to make me do whatever it was during the attack."

"And you've never had the key. Okay, that makes sense. But then why make you assemble the key? Why not open the lock, or even just give you the key already assembled? And why keep the key's and lock's locations hidden? Why not lead you right to them?"

"I don't know for sure," Nue said. "but I think I have a pretty good idea as to why."

"You do?"

"Yes. I believe that the key frame, as soon as I acquire it, will attempt to exert influence on my mind. The Shadowlord knows from Noir's attempt that brute force control won't work on me, so it may well have decided to try a more subtle approach, an attempt at a more gradual influence in hopes that by the time I complete the key, I would be controllable. But that won't work any better, especially not with me expecting it."

"You sure about that?"

"A gradual influence," Nue said, "is harder for most to resist, as, by nature, its presence is harder to notice. If you are aware that it's there, however, things are different. Because of its gradual nature, its use of a weak effect over time, the force it exerts on one's mind is, well, weak. If you know it's there, it's easy to resist."

"You don't think it'll be subtle enough that you'll miss it?"

"You might, even if you were looking for it, but not me. As a shapeshifter, I know the subtle pull all too well. A shapeshifter has to have precise awareness of her form and her mind, or she will begin to lose them. I've seen it before, what happens when a shapeshifter lacks that awareness. Lose awareness of form and you lose control over it. Lose awareness of mind and your form takes over. Lose awareness of both and you become an ever-shifting creature with no sense of self, no ability to think, your will lost among constant change. It's not a pleasant sight."

"And that precise awareness will allow you to detect and resist a gradual mental influence," Levia said. "This makes sense."

"Does that mean tanuki like Mamizou are just as good at fighting mind-control stuff?" Yuugi said. "And what about animal youkai? They can change form, too."

"Animal youkai are not shapeshifters," Nue said. "Most people, humans and youkai alike, have one set form, one set state. Animal youkai simply have two forms. They don't change their forms; they simply switch between the two they have. And tanuki don't actually change their forms, either. What they do is technically a form of illusion."

"I haven't seen Mamizou shift," Yuugi said, "but she's not the only tanuki I've ever seen in my entire life. I've seen a couple change, and their forms were not illusions."

"They were," Nue said. "They were simply illusions given substance. A tanuki's form-change illusions are tied to its physical form through an anchor, giving them presence and substance. That's why a tanuki's form always has the ears and tail; those are the anchor. They can be concealed through other means, but they're always part of a tanuki's apparent form. Tanuki are limited by the need for that anchor, for that tie to their forms, but within those limits, they can 'change' freely, far more freely than an actual shapeshifter such as myself."

"I see. So they're naturally good with illusions, but not necessarily as good at mental resistance."

"Their natural ability with illusions as tanuki is limited to their faked shapeshifting. Mamizou happens to have a much greater level of ability with illusions, but she's very much exceptional in that regard. And as for mental resistance, no, they're not nearly as capable as someone like me, although Mamizou, at least, is above average in that regard. Illusions—not counting the anchored fake-form-changes that tanuki can naturally do—do require a certain strength of mind."

"I also am resistant to such things," Levia said. "The destroyer was to stand against the deceiver, and because of this, I have the qualities necessary to resist such deception."

"That's good to know," Nue said. "Now come on, let's get moving. We have a lock and key to find."

* * *

><p>"That's insane," Mokou said. "That's crazy!"<p>

"Agreed," Kaguya said.

"I-_we_-have to stop her. I don't know what consuming Shades would do to her, but it can't be anything good."

"Also agreed. The good news, such as it is, is that, although Utsuho does intend to consume Shades, she has yet to figure out how."

"Because Shades disappear upon death."

Kaguya nodded. "She has attempted to consume live Shades, but without success. I think she'll eventually find a way, but she has yet to, which means we still have time."

"Shades don't go underground, not since they attacked a month ago-sorry, it's two months ago now, isn't it? Anyways, they don't go underground, which isn't surprising, given that except for the Palace of the Earth Spirits, everything down there's been consumed by the fires of the former hell. She'll have to come up here to find Shades."

"And Lady Nightbug will notify us when she does."

"We'll need to be ready," Mokou said. "We need to get with the training. Are you still exploring Eientei?"

"I am," Kaguya said, "and I will want to continue doing so. Our previous arrangement of exploring Eientei followed by training sessions should still work fine, I think."

"Good enough, I guess. Are you thinking you'll head in now?"

"Yeah. You coming?"

"...I don't think so," Mokou said, "no. Not today. I... think I need to go see Keine. Let her know what happened. Where... where I've been the past month."

"All right. Meet in the same clearing we used before?"

"Yeah," Mokou said.

"Okay, then. I'll see you later."

* * *

><p>"I didn't think I'd be here again so soon," Nue said as she, Yuugi, and Levia landed in the ruins of the Myouren Temple, "not like this."<p>

"You know this place," Levia said. "It is important to you."

"This temple was Byakuren's."

"I see."

"Our destination lies beyond this place, or, more specifically, below it. The Dream Palace Great Mausoleum is where Toyosatomimi no Miko was entombed until her resurrection. This temple lies on top of it."

"I assume there is an entrance."

"Yes. The graveyard behind the temple. Come on."

* * *

><p>Keine often walked out the edge of the village. As usual, she had found a spot and was just sitting there, as if waiting for something. But what she saw this time wasn't what she was waiting for. <em>Shades.<em>

Keine leapt to her feet and rushed towards the Shades, a small group of them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one of the oni coming at them, but the oni soon halted and returned to her previous position, recognizing that Keine would reach the Shades first.

The battle was brief, and it wasn't long before there was only a single Shade left. But before Keine had a chance to strike it, something crashed down on it from above. When the dust cleared, the Shade was nowhere to be seen, and in its place was a figure Keine knew well.

Tenshi stepped off of her keystone. "Hey, Keine."

Keine just smiled. "What took you so long?"

* * *

><p>[BGM=<em>watch?v=kaf7JuTKc8o_]The Dream Palace Great Mausoleum looked just as it had the last time Nue and Yuugi were there. And as they made their way further in, it soon became clear that this extended far beyond the entrance.

"What the hell?" Yuugi said as the three of them entered a familiar room. It was this room that had contained the first of the strange movable-block puzzles. The blocks were still present, as they'd expected. What they hadn't expected was for the positions of the blocks to be reset.

"This is the initial configuration," Nue said. "Why are the blocks back in their starting positions?"

"How the hell should I know?" Yuugi said.

"It was a rhetorical question. I'm well aware you don't know any more than I do."

"Others have been here since your previous visit," Levia said, "have they not? Perhaps it is they who reset this room."

"That wouldn't really make much sense," Nue said.

"None of this makes any sense," Yuugi said, "but I think you're right. It's stuff related to the Shades that doesn't make sense, not Miko's people. We can blame the Shades for this."

"It's certainly not the strangest thing we've seen from them. Well, at least we already know a quick way through. Yuugi?"

"On it." Yuugi, as she'd done on the previous visit, simply tore the door out of the wall, allowing the three of them to pass through to the next room. This room, however, was different. The unmovable blocks were still present, but the movable ones were gone. Instead, there were three human-type Shades in the room.

The Shades didn't last very long.

"Right," Yuugi said, "why the hell is this room different now?"

"A good question," Nue said. "Let's keep moving."

When Nue and Yuugi had first visited the mausoleum a month ago, all the rooms had contained block puzzles. This time, only ever other room still contained its puzzle. The others all had their movable blocks replaced by Shades. There were never more than a few, though, and the group was able to make short work of them every time.

The three of them moved through the mausoleum until they reached the door to the chamber where Nue and Yuugi had previously found the tablet. But this time, it was not a room beyond the door.

"What the hell?" Yuugi said.

"We appear to be outside," Levia said, "and yet I sense that what we are seeing is not what we should be seeing."

"It's not real," Nue said. "I don't think it's a simple illusion, but it's not real. Come on, let's get moving."

The walkway they were on wound upwards around a spire. "This isn't part of the mausoleum," Nue said as they walked, "and it certainly wasn't here last time."

"Guess things have changed here since last time," Yuugi said. "Maybe that means we will find the lock here after all."

Eventually, the walkway ended at the top of the spire, at a door leading into what was clearly its highest room. Passing through the door, they found themselves in the chamber they'd expected to find previously, the one where Nue and Yuugi had found the tablet. "Okay," Yuugi said, "that's weird."

"Indeed," Nue said. "I think we're in the right place, though. Look."

There were no Shades in the chamber this time, nor were there any statues. The altar that had held the table was still present, but it was empty. The one new feature in the room was on the back wall, behind the alter. It was a rotating circular pattern, at first glance appearing to be on the wall but actually about an inch in front of it. "I'm going to assume that's our lock," Yuugi said.

"Almost has to be," Nue said. But before they could take a look, a hole was suddenly smashed in the roof, the object that made it landing in the center of the chamber amidst falling debris.

[BGM=_/watch?v=W0IWB6qEn9o_]

"Looks like we've got a fight," Yuugi said. "That statue looks just like the ones we fought last time."

"No," Nue said as the statue, its spear in hand, stood up straight and faced them, "look. It's missing its left eye. That _is_ one of the statues we fought last time."

"I thought we destroyed them both," Yuugi said.

"Apparently not."

"Calling it a 'statue' may be incorrect," Levia said. "I sense from it what I sense from Shades."

"Yeah, we noticed some similarities last time," Yuugi said. "They feel like Shades when you hit 'em, and they take damage like Shades, too."

"At least for the most part," Nue said. "This particular statue has lost the eye we stabbed it through, as you can see."

"I think it's about to attack," Yuugi said. "Let's do this."

The statue did not charge at them as expected. Instead, it leap back and fired a burst of red shots, which had the appearance of flaming. The shots displayed a very limited homing ability, but the trio still had no difficulty dodging. "It didn't do that last time," Nue said.

Several fairy-type Shades appeared in front of the statue, seemingly forming on the spot, and charged the trio. Levia stepped forward and lashed out with her whip, easily taking them out More continued to appear and charge, but Levia kept taking them out. At the same time, the statue fired more of its shots. Levia's whip took out the ones coming at her, an Nue and Yuugi had no difficulty dodging the ones that came at them.

Yuugi flew over the Shades and into the statue, slamming it into the wall behind it, and started repeatedly hitting it. The statue tried to grab Yuugi, but she just knocked its arm away. It then fired a burst of shots at point-blank range, knocking Yuugi back. Yuugi ran at it again, but the statue was able to move away in time, and took a swing at Yuugi. Yuugi ducked under it and struck, but the statue used its spear to block.

Nue joined Levia against the fairy-type Shades, piercing through several of them with a throw of her trident. She called the weapon back to her and cut through another, making sure to stay clear of Levia's whip. A couple Shades ran past against the walls to get behind Levia, but Nue took them out before they could do anything.

Yuugi grabbed the statue's spear and tried to wrench the weapon away from it, but the statue's grip was too strong ever for her to overcome. So she instead swung the statue around by it, slamming it into the wall. The statue thrust its weapon forward, and while Yuugi's grasp of it kept it from hitting her, the thrust did throw off her balance just enough to allow the statue to swing at and hit her, which knocked her into the wall.

The fairy-type Shades had stopped appearing, and all the remaining ones were taken care of, allowing Nue and Levia to join Yuugi against the statue. As Nue struck it in the head, Levia wrapped her whip around the statue's spear and pulled from the statue's side, the angle allowing her to succeed where Yuugi had failed. She pulled the spear over to her and threw it at the statue, but the statue timed a swing such that it knocked the spear away from itself.

And straight into Yuugi's chest.

"Yuugi!" Nue immediately ran over to Yuugi as the oni fell to the ground. Levia, on the other hand, charged the statue. She ran into it, slamming it into the wall, and punched it repeatedly. Then she thrust her hand somehow into it, much as she'd done to one of the first Shades she'd encountered. The statue tried to push her away, but failed. It took much longer than it had with the Shade, despite the statue's weakened state, but eventually, water poured from it as it collapsed to the ground in pieces, which then vanished.

[end BGM]

Yuugi pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Are you all right?" Nue asked her.

"I've got a... big-ass spear in my chest," Yuugi said. "What do you think?"

"I take it that means you are all right."

"Don't know if I'd... say that right now, but... I certainly will be before too long. Might've been worse if it'd hit my... heart, but without... that happening, a wound like this... isn't something that can kill an oni. Gonna leave a hell of a scar, though. But I'll be fine. May not... be at my best the next couple days, but... I'll be fine. Not sure why the spear didn't... vanish with the rest of the statue, though." She grimaced in pain as she pulled it free from her chest. "Ow."

Now freed from Yuugi's chest, the spear promptly did vanish. "Huh," Nue said. "Maybe it didn't vanish because it was still in you."

"Maybe," Yuugi said. "Probably won't ever know for sure, though." She got to her feet. "I'm... a little shaky here. Think you could give me a hand, Nue?"

"Sure. Just let me take a look around first."

"Oh, yeah. We came here... for a reason, didn't we? Levia, maybe you could... give me a hand instead."

Levia did so. "I suppose this is a situation where one would apologize."

"Don't worry about it," Yuugi said. "You... didn't know that would happen. And you took it out... pretty nicely afterward. I'm guessing that water thing... wouldn't have worked if the statue hadn't... already been beaten half to shit, though, right?"

"Correct. An ordinary Shade poses no difficulty-although it is an inefficient method, as I can eliminate them more quickly with other actions-but an opponent such as the one we just faced I could not have eliminated in such a manner any earlier in the fight."

"Not really the best... battle move, then," Yuugi said. "Looked pretty cool, though. Well, anyways, we should get out of here. I think I need to... rest for a bit. You... find anything, Nue?"

"I have," Nue said, showing Yuugi and Levia the object in her hand. A pentagonal object clearly meant to have something placed within it, it was almost undoubtedly the key frame. There were spaces for five objects, one of which was already filled. "It just appeared out of nowhere when I approached the seal."

"Huh. And... you're certain we need to find the key?"

"The magic part of this seal, this lock, is very high-level," Nue said. "Byakuren't the only magician still alive who could undo it. Patchouli has the power and skill that would be needed, but in her condition, the energies involved would be too much for her. She'd probably die if she tried. And Alice wouldn't work, either. She has the needed power, as well as the physical capacity Patchouli lacks, but she doesn't have the knowledge and skill. She's too specialized. Outside of that which is related to the creation and use of her dolls, her capabilities are fairly limited."

"What about... multiple magicians working together?"

"Doesn't help. Magic locks are designed to eliminate that option, or at least the good ones are. You can't work with them unless to connect to them magically, so you can't guide someone else. You can only sense the intricacies while connected, and since the locks are fluid, shifting, you can't simply tell someone else what to do, because you won't know without connecting yourself."

"What about... having others connect to lighten Patchouli's load?"

"Another obvious counter to a magic lock, so it, too, is designed against. There is no lightening the load. The energies of the lock pass in turn through everyone who's connected; they all face the full energies equally."

"Damn," Yuugi said. "No... choice, then. Wish we knew where to... find the pieces."

"Well, one's already in here. And there's some writing in the spots for the other four. If we're lucky, it may have some clues. We'll have to get it translated, though."

"You can... do that. As soon as we... get back, I... need to rest."

"Works for me. Let's get going, then."

* * *

><p>"Sorry it took me so long," Tenshi said. "Turns out they were a lot more serious about keeping me up there than I expected."<p>

Keine and Tenshi had gone straight to Keine's house, and currently were sitting out front of it. "I'm surprised they managed it for that long," Keine said.

"They did their best, and it turns out that their best is a lot better than I expected. And a lot of them can fight fairly well, now, too. Funny story: teaching people how to fight makes it harder to beat them. So I couldn't just blast my way through everyone. Had to be careful, come up with a plan. And make sure that I didn't start until I was as certain as possible that I'd succeed, because if they'd caught me trying to escape, they would've done everything they could to make sure I didn't have another chance to try."

"Do you... think they're going to try to bring you back?"

"I'm not sure," Tenshi said. "Coming down here to get me would violate their whole 'isolation' thing, but they really don't like the fact that I went against them."

"You're violating the isolation already, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but the difference is that I don't intend to go back. I'm not one of them anymore. Never was, I guess. Not really. I may be a celestial, but I'm not one of them."

"So you think they'll just let you leave."

"I don't know," Tenshi said, "but I do know that I'm not going back. I don't care what they try; they're not taking me back. I won't let them."

"I won't let them, either."

"You two gonna fight heaven now?"

Both Keine and Tenshi had completely failed to notice Mokou's approach. "Mokou," Keine said. "This is just my day for reunions, isn't it?"

Tenshi and Mokou spoke simultaneously. "Wait, she's been gone, too?"

Keine chuckled. "Yeah. Tenshi's been stuck up in heaven; the celestials have isolated themselves, and it took Tenshi until now to escape. I don't know where you've been, though, Mokou."

Mokou was silent for a moment. "I've been... dealing with outstanding issues."

_The Kaguya/Utsuho thing, no doubt._ "And have you dealt with them?"

"I... I don't know. That's kind of why I'm here. Trying to... figure some things out, I guess. That's why I'm here. I really need to talk to someone, and you're just about the only one I feel like I can talk to about this. I didn't realize you'd be having a reunion with Tenshi, though."

"I don't mind," Tenshi said. "It's not like I'm going anywhere."

"You don't think you'll have to go back to heaven?"

"I escaped. I ran away. I'm not going back, and if they try to take me back, they'll fail."

"...Fair enough."

Tenshi looked over at Keine. "Want me to head inside, give you two some privacy?"

"That's Mokou's choice to make, I think," Keine said.

"My lifelong enemy already knows about all this," Mokou said. "You really think I'd care if my friend's partner hears it?"

"A fair point, I suppose," Keine said. "Very well, then. Go ahead, Mokou."

"Right," Mokou said. "Well, you already know what's happened up through when you saw me a month ago. After that..."

* * *

><p>Mamizou greeted Nue immediately upon the latter's entering the tavern, Yuugi and Levia behind her. "Hey there, Nue. Heard you were going back to the mausoleum. Find anything?"<p>

"Yes," Nue said. "I don't know why it wasn't there last time, but we found what we were looking for. What about you? Anything I might want to hear?"

"Nothing about Shades," Mamizou said, "and you can bet people won't be talking about them for the rest of today, at the very least. Rumor mill's... otherwise occupied."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Yes, and for once it's a good thing. Probably why it's drawing everyone's attention; good news is so rare these days."

"You going to tell us what it is, or just spend all your time on the build-up?"

Mamizou chuckled. "Fine, I'll tell you. Tenshi's back."

"Oh. Been wondering when that would happen. Lover's reunion, then? Yeah, I can see why people would be all over that. Aren't a lot of happy endings these days."

"Yeah. People are glad that for once they've got something like that to-" Mamizou finally noticed the wound in Yuugi's chest, "-holy shit! What the hell happened to you, Yuugi?"

"Impaled in the chest," Yuugi said. "Had to... win a fight to get what we were after, and, well, I took a hit. Not... going to kill me, but I won't be at my best for a bit."

"Damn, Yuugi. Pretty sure that would've killed me."

"Oni are tough, and I'm tough even for an oni."

"I can see that. Damn."

"We're dropping her off here," Nue said, "then I'm heading over to Ari's. There's some text on what we found, and I'm hoping she can translate it."

"I'll get her to her room," Mamizou said.

"Unnecessary," Levia said. "I see no reason I need to accompany Nue, so I do not intend to do so. I intend to remain with Yuugi."

"...That works, too."

"Right," Nue said. _Is she developing feelings for Yuugi? Huh. Still not sure what goes on in head, what sort of emotions she even has, but if she's got feelings for Yuugi, well, that's good, isn't it?_ "Well, I'm going, then. See you."

* * *

><p>"...agreed to work with her this time," Mokou said. "I told her I was okay with things, but... well..."<p>

"You're not sure," Keine said.

"Pretty much. I just... I don't think I know what I think anymore. Everything's changed for me since letting Kaguya out, and I don't know how to handle it."

"Understandable. But I think you're making progress."

"Doesn't feel like it."

"Maybe not," Keine said, "but that doesn't mean it's not happening."

"I guess. I just... I don't know what I'm supposed to do about all this."

"Then don't do anything," Tenshi said. "You're trying too hard. Don't worry about Kaguya. You're working with her to deal with Utsuho, right? Just continue with that, and you'll just naturally come to an understanding."

"She may have a point," Keine said. "There's no need to rush this; you'll figure things out eventually."

"I certainly hope so," Mokou said.

* * *

><p>"There's only one script used on this one," Ari said as she examined the key frame, "and it's the one I know."<p>

"Excellent," Nue said. "What's the translation?"

"Each segment of the frame has a short phrase. 'Loyal Cerberus', 'The Law of Robotics', 'Sacrifice', 'Creation of Life', and the one for the piece you already have is 'Tomb of the Immortal'."

"They sound like clues," Nue said.

"Indeed, but why provide them?"

"The Shades want me to assemble this, but they want it to take a certain amount of time. I believe it will try to exert influence on my mind."

"I see. I assume you're sure you can resist this."

"Indeed."

"Then you should get to gathering the pieces."

"Yeah. May start with 'Law of Robotics'. That has to refer to the Junk Heap. Not sure on 'Loyal Cerberus', but it may be related to the wolves in the desert. Cerberus is the name of a monstrous dog in outside world mythology-a myth I myself contributed to, by the way. No clue about 'Sacrifice'."

"That one is a mystery to me, too," Ari said. "I believe I know what 'Creation of Life' refers to, though."

"You've narrowed it down? Because reproduction happens everywhere."

"And what plants are more associated with reproduction than those that flower?"

"Of course," Nue said. "The Garden of the Sun."

"I'll look into 'Sacrifice', see if I can decipher its meaning, but in the meantime, you have three locations to check."

"And then we find the 'Sacrifice' piece, and then it's back to the mausoleum to find the Shadowlord." _It won't be much longer, Byakuren. I'm coming for you._

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, there was no way Tenshi was going to stay in heaven.<strong>

**So Nue has the key frame now. And Yuugi got a spear through the chest. That scene does in fact happen in NieR, and that character also survives, although how she survives is a bit different. Also we learned what Utsuho's trying to do now, and it's probably not a good idea.**

**NieR players have likely noticed that the Forest of Myth is not on Nue's destination list. You do go back there in the game, but as much as I loved it the first time, I found the return boring. You already know what to expect, which really takes away from the experience. I don't like the second visit, so I decided to replace it with a visit to the Garden of the Sun.**

**Okay, so at this point in NieR, the player is given a choice of which of two locations to visit next, the Junk Heap or the Forest of Myth. So I thought I'd do the same, and give a choice between the Junk Heap and the Garden of the Sun. Mention which one you want, and whichever gets the most votes is where Nue's group will go next. The deadline is Sunday, since I'll need to know which it is in order to start writing the chapter.**

**And even if you don't vote, reviews are greatly appreciated.**


	16. Chapter 16: Choice

**Chapter 16  
><strong>_Choice_

"The Junk Heap, Facade, and the Garden of the Sun," Levia said. "Which location do you intend to visit first?"

Nue had returned to the tavern after her visit to Ari, meeting Yuugi and Levia in Yuugi's room. "The Garden of the Sun," she said. "That's likely to be the quickest. You remember what the Junk Heap is like, and if there's one in Facade, it's probably related to the wolves, so who knows what we'd have to do to find it. The garden should be fairly simple to search. And if any major Shades show up, well, there's no way one of those could avoid hurting the flowers, so Yuuka would come to help take it out."

"You're going now, aren't you?" Yuugi said. "That's why you're choosing the quick one, because you don't think you'll have trouble finishing by the end of the day even though you're only starting your search now."

"Yeah."

"I... don't know that I should go with you. Probably shouldn't do too much for the rest of the day. Should be fine by tomorrow, though. You sure you want to go without me?"

"Levia and I together shouldn't have much difficulty dealing with Yuuka if she attacks. She'd probably beat any one of us, but probably not two of us, and all three of us would win handily. Not that we're too likely to have a problem as long as we don't hurt the flowers. Although I guess I'm assuming you'll be coming, Levia. Are you, or would you rather remain here?"

"Go with her," Yuugi said. "I may be out for the day, but there's no reason you have to be, too. It's not like you can change anything by staying here."

"Then I believe I will accompany you, Nue," Levia said.

"Glad to hear it," Nue said. "Let's go."

* * *

><p><em>The story of Yuuka Kazami is a sad one.<em>

_It begins thousands of years ago, when Yuuka was fairly young. She was kind back then, friendly. Now she's... broken._

_To understand what happened to Yuuka, you must first understand what she was. It's common knowledge that she's a flower youkai, but few people seem to realize what that means. It's also common to confuse the idea of a flower youkai with that of so-called 'flower fairies'. Fairies have nothing to do with flowers specifically; they are representations of nature, yes, but on a less specific level. There are fairies that represent plant life, but not ones that represent specific plants or parts of plants. Many fairies do like to carry flowers with them, but they do so only because they find the flowers pretty. They don't actually have any direct connection to flowers. Yuuka, however, is different. She is specifically a youkai of flowers, and it is in what that means that her story begins._

_Ask yourself this: what is the purpose of a flower? Sure, many find them aesthetically pleasing, but that's not why they exist. No, their purpose lies in reproduction. So when Yuuka is a flower youkai, what that means is that she is a youkai of reproduction. And how is it that humans and youkai engage in reproduction? Through sexual intercourse._

_It may be becoming apparent what happened to Yuuka. Earlier in her life, things were just fine for her. She had no difficulty finding men to lie with her, and found her life pleasant. But humanity being what it is, it was only a matter of time before things took a turn for the worse, and she began to face sexual abuse._

_She could have easily defended herself, of course; she's always been one of the most powerful youkai. But she didn't. She thought she wasn't supposed to, that she needed to accept whatever abuse people handed her. She thought it was just something that came with what she is._

_I actually knew her back then. Not well, but we'd met a few times. And no, she was never one of my victims; I preferred humans. We simply happened to be active in the same area at the same time, and so simply ran into each other from time to time. And she was always open about her experiences. To her, being open and revealing about such things was normal; after all, flowers exist out in the open. So I heard about what she was going through, but despite my urgings, she showed no willingness to make any effort to change her situation._

_Her situation got worse over time, especially as it became knows that no matter what was done to her, she wouldn't resist. She thought she just had to deal with it, so she did nothing as her experiences became worse and worse until, eventually, she broke._

_It happened in a small village. That village didn't last the night. Yuuka literally tore the man who was raping her apart, then proceeded to find the others in the village who'd abused her, killing them only after sexually torturing them. But she didn't stop with them; she tore through the entire village. Only a few managed to escape, making their way to nearby villages. Most of them died anyways. Yuuka didn't actually follow them, but her rampage took her through many villages in the area._

_Yuuka's rampage eventually came to its end, but the damage done to her remained. It was during this time that the stories of her sadism began to spread, and they were not without basis. She did take such actions, especially sexual torture, but never again on the scale of her initial rampage, and the frequency reduced as time went on. She mostly kept to herself, withdrawing to an isolated region she found and taking up residence there, a region now known as the Garden of the Sun._

_The only adequate way to describe Yuuka, really, is 'unpredictable'. It's rare for her to seek out and abuse anyone these days, though if you wander into the Garden of the Sun, your fate comes down to chance. Unless you harm the flowers. Do that, and she kills you. That's the only thing you can be sure of with her, though. She's... erratic, unpredictable. Her mind never healed, and likely never will._

* * *

><p>When the time came, Mokou left the village and made her way to the clearing in the forest and waited. And she didn't have to wait long; Kaguya arrived within a few minutes. "Good," she said, "you're here."<p>

"Did you think I wouldn't be?" Mokou said.

"No, I thought you'd come, but I wasn't completely sure. Thought maybe you'd want more time with Keine."

"I think you can assume I'll be visiting her fairly often over the next few days, but we're done for today. Wasn't sure if you'd be here yet, though. Getting tired of banging your head against a wall, figuratively and maybe even literally, knowing what Eientei's like these days?"

"Were I simply wandering through Eientei at random, I might feel that way, but not long after you, um, went back underground, I became certain that there' a pattern to it."

Mokou laughed. "Yeah, no. Pretty sure there's no pattern to that place. Hell, I don't think it's ever even had the same layout more than once."

"You're thinking of a pattern in the danmaku sense, a repeating sequence. Patterns can be other than that." Kaguya picked up a stick and drew a circle in the dirt. She continued moving the stick around the circle as she spoke. "This is a repeating pattern. Each circle is the same as the last." She then drew a spiral. "This is a pattern, but it doesn't repeat itself. Each iteration progresses further outward."

"...Your point is?"

"The spiral proceeds according to a pattern, an ever-widening circular path. I believe that Eientei's shifting is likewise governed by a pattern. It's not random; it's a result of... something. Maybe this something is still acting on it, or maybe its only action was the initial... destabilization, but either way, it's the source of the pattern. It's like... pushing a cart. You can give it a single push and let it go, or keep hold of it and continue to push it, but either way, the cart's motion is caused by you."

"...Right. So basically, you think the shifting isn't random. Can't say I share that opinion."

"Where the spiral's pattern is simple, Eientei's is immensely complicated. Without an understanding of where precisely the cause lies, we cannot understand why Eientei shifts the way it does. But if we can gather enough data, see enough as its shifts, it may be possible to see the pattern of its shifts. We'll simply need a large data set."

"And determining this pattern is important?"

"Eientei was once under my power, locked within eternity, though I ended this after our fake moon incident. I should be able to return Eientei to that state."

"'Should'. I can see how it would help to do that-it would keep the place from shifting-but are you saying you can't?"

"It shifts too quickly. I can't get a hold on it."

"Ah. That's why you want to determine the pattern. If you know what shifts are coming, you'll be ready for them."

"Yes. If I can keep my hold long enough, I will be able to again place Eientei under my power. Locking it in eternity would be useful enough just for stopping its shifting, but if Eientei is once agin under my power, I may even be able to force it to return to its normal state, what it was before the Radiance. I expect that determining the pattern of shifting will take quite some time, though., so it may be a while yet before I can restore Eientei."

"Still better than wandering aimlessly hoping to get lucky," Mokou said. "Not sure I'm ready to believe there's a pattern to the shifting, but still, it's better than how we were approaching it."

"'We'," Kaguya said. "Will you be joining me inside?"

"I'll probably head in sometimes. Not likely to stay with you, though."

"Which is preferable. To determine the pattern, we need as much information, as many observations, as possible. Proceeding separately doubles the data we'll get."

"Yeah. That's for another time, though."

"Practice time, then. Are we just going to fight each other again?"

"Right now, yes," Mokou said, "but that's not all we should do."

"Yeah, if we're going to work together, we'll need to practice doing so. What are you thinking? Shade hunting?"

"I'd prefer a more capable opponent than Shades, but we can't hold back in practice. Anyone who's not immortal would be at too much risk. Fairies are immortal, of course, but they'd make even worse training opponents."

"True. Shades it is, then."

"Yeah," Mokou said, "but for now, we do what we did previously."

"Got it," Kaguya said. "In that case, let's get started."

* * *

><p>"No matter what you see," Nue said, "do not descend into the flowers. Stay above them, and you can guarantee you don't hurt them."<p>

"Understood," Levia said.

Nue and Levia were flying a few feet over the massive sunflower field of the Garden of the Sun. Nue suspected that if the key fragment she was looking for was here, it would be in the field somewhere, dropped there by a shade Yuuka had killed and left, as Yuuka would have had no interest in such a thing. But Nue knew better than to actually move through the field; that carried too much risk of accidentally harming flowers. Fortunately, she expected that she only had to get close to the fragment; it was likely that it would enter the key frame on its own just as the black objects had entered the tablet. Which meant that all she had to do was fly in a search pattern over the fields, periodically checking the frame.

The pair had been searching for a while when Levia spoke again as they were nearing an edge of the field. "There are Shades approaching. They will reach the edge of the field about when we do."

"Then we don't engage," Nue said. "Too much risk of damaging flowers. If they enter the field, Yuuka will handle them; otherwise, we can take them out when they're further away. We should just continue our search pattern."

They did exactly that, but Nue made sure to keep watch behind them, which soon proved a good idea. "Up!"

Nue shot up into the air, Levia following suit. A Shade shot by underneath them, propelled by a massive energy blast. "That appeared excessive," Levia said.

"Yuuka's not known for moderation."

"She is approaching. I... I do not understand what I sense from her. Her emotions are..."

"She's... broken. I'd rather we not encounter her." Nue produced the key frame. "And we got lucky. The second piece is in here. We got close enough to it since the last time I checked. Come on, let's get out of here."

Nue returned the key frame to the nether, and she and Levia flew away.

* * *

><p>"They seem very pleased to see me," Tenshi said as she and Keine walked through the village.<p>

"Of course people are happy you're back," Keine said, "and not just because it means there's one more person here who's good in a fight. Good news is rare these days, so it's only natural that our reunion would be as celebrated as it is. It's something people can be happy about."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Nice change from heaven's attitude. I know I've mentioned this in the past, but those people do not approve of our relationship. Never have. Hell, when they first told me that I couldn't come back down here, I thought they were trying to separate us."

"My opinion of the celestials has fallen a good deal since they panicked and decided to withdraw completely in response to less danger than we face every day, but I still can't see them doing something like that."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm sure they were satisfied that the isolation separated us, though. Not that that lasted too long."

"Longer than I would have liked."

"Agreed," Tenshi said. "They made getting out of there more interesting than I expected."

"At least you did get out someone's coming."

"Huh?"

Keine pointed. "Over there, off in the distance. Someone's approaching. And from the same direction and at the same angle as the messenger who told me about the isolation. Whoever it is is coming from heaven."

"Huh. Didn't expect them to send anyone after me this quickly. I thought they'd still be trying to decide whether or not to try to bring me back. Hmm... looks like there's only one of them. Hardly enough to get me back. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Let's meet her outside the village," Tenshi said. "I think there may be a fight."

* * *

><p>"That was... unsettling," Levia said as she and Nue flew back towards the human village.<p>

"Yeah, it's bad enough just talking to her," Nue said. "You felt her emotions. That can't have been pleasant."

"I desire to never return to that place."

"You're hardly alone in that. Hell, most people feel that way without having even gone there in the first place, and the ones who have been there tend to agree. Yuuka's not nearly as bad as the rumors make her out to be, but... well, if you felt her emotions, then I probably don't need to tell you."

"Indeed. I am eager to put that place far behind me."

"That," Nue said, "is a sentiment I think most people would share."

* * *

><p>Tenshi and Keine waited outside the village as the figure approached, soon landing in front of them. Tenshi stepped forward. "Iku. So it is you. Should have realized you'd be the one coming after me."<p>

"You know why I'm here, I assume," Iku said.

"I do. And I think you know my answer."

"Yes, but I must say this anyways: return to heaven."

"Then I'll give you the answer: no. You'll have to go back without me."

"I am sorry," Iku said, "but I do not have a choice in the matter."

[BGM = /watch?v=gSdY8rrwafU]

"As I thought." Tenshi drew her sword. "You know I'm going to resist."

"Of course I do. Just as you know that I do not have the option of holding back."

"Yeah." Tenshi looked over at Keine. "Keine, don't interfere. This is between me and her."

"...Very well," Keine said. If it had just been about stopping celestials from taking Tenshi away again, she would have helped Tenshi fight them off, but despite its brevity, the conversation between Tenshi and Iku had made it quite clear that there was something else to this.

"Thanks. Even with us out here, I'm sure people will notice us, so make sure nobody gets close, all right?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Tenshi turned back to Iku. "Right, then. Got that taken care of."

"A wise precaution," Iku said. She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry I have to do this, Eldest Daughter, but I haven't been given a choice."

"I understand."

"Thank you."

"Right, then." Tenshi readied her sword. "Go!"

* * *

><p>Keine headed back towards the village to find someone coming out to meet her. "Okeno. What is it?"<p>

"That's my line," the man said. "A couple people saw you and Tenshi leaving the village. That doesn't happen a lot. Um, what's going on over there?"

"That's why we came out here. Tenshi had a... visitor."

"Who?"

The man tried to move in for a closer look, but Keine stopped him. "Don't approach the fight. It's unsafe."

"Fight?"

Keine nodded. "Fight. And one that's likely to draw people's attention. Help me make sure nobody gets close, all right? Come on."

* * *

><p>Iku caught Tenshi's sword in her shawl and tried to wrench it from Tenshi's grip, but Tenshi pulled it out before she could. Iku lashed out with her shawl, but Tenshi leapt away, firing a spread of lasers as she did. Iku jumped back, then quickly dove to the side as Tenshi sent a mall keystone at her. Tenshi came in again and struck, but Iku blocked with her shawl.<p>

The shawl of a Celestial was far more than just a clothing accessory. Durable, flexible, and capable of taking various forms, it was also a weapon. As it was standard wear in heaven, it was the celestials' weapon of choice, though few had ever used it as one even now. Many had been trained in combat after the Radiance, but with no further Shade appearances, only those who descended into Gensokyo ever had to fight, and for the most part, that was limited to Iku and Tenshi. Iku was quite capable with hers, but Tenshi, who wielded the Sword of Hisou, was one of the only celestials to use a different weapon; in fact, she didn't even wear the celestials' shawl. But she was still quite familiar with its capabilities, and knew quite well what Iku could do with hers.

Iku formed her shawl into a drill and thrust it forward, but Tenshi brought her sword up in time to block. Iku sent a current of electrical energy through the shawl, but Tenshi, anticipating this, had already pulled her sword away. Iku's shawl returned to its normal state as she lashed out again, keeping it electrified.

Tenshi grabbed the shawl with a hand encased in a layer of earth, which protected her from the electrical energy. She yanked on the shawl to pull Iku closer, then kicked her in the chest, knocking Iku back as she released the shawl. She ran in, but Iku had already recovered, though the charge in her shawl had dissipated. She lashed out, but Tenshi evaded and countered. Iku was also able to evade, though, and struck again. And as Tenshi evaded this strike, she noticed the energy gathering around Iku. She quickly formed a keystone and sent it at Iku, but Iku blocked it with her shawl as Tenshi jumped back. Iku's shawl returned to its normal position on her outfit as she released the gathered energy. "Thundercloud Stickleback!"

Iku enveloped herself in a field of electrical energy and charged. Tenshi took to the air, and though Iku followed, Tenshi was able to stay far enough ahead to avoid contact with the field. When the field faded, Tenshi immediately moved in behind a set of keystones. Iku avoided some of the keystones and cut through the rest, but then Tenshi herself struck.

Tenshi struck, Iku evaded and struck, Tenshi blocked and countered, Iku dodged below and struck again. Iku attacked with bolts of electrical energy, Tenshi with blocks of stone. Strike, evade, strike, block, counter, strike, parry, strike, block, strike, counter, evade, counter, parry, counter, parry, strike, evade, on and on, in the air and then eventually returning to the ground.

Iku lashed out again. Tenshi ducked to the side and came in with another strike, but Iku evaded and attacked, her shawl again formed into a drill. Tenshi brought up her sword to block, but Iku unformed shawl from the drill shape and wrapped it around the sword. She yanked it back, and Tenshi allowed herself to be pulled forward. Iku tried to blast Tenshi with electrical energy at point-blank range, but Tenshi, expecting this, had already formed a barrier of earth around her torso, which Iku's blast hit. She added her own force to the momentum from Iku's pull. She took hold of Iku as she soared past and slammed her into the ground.

Tenshi took a couple steps back. "Glad to see you're not rusty."

"You fought well, too," Iku said as she picked herself up off the ground. "Your skill is impressive."

"Thanks," Tenshi said. Then she paused for a moment. "You asked to come down here after me, didn't you?"

"...Yes," Iku said. "I did. But what I said is still true: I did not have a choice. I had to come after you; there was no other option I was willing to accept."

"All-or-nothing, is that it?"

Iku nodded. "None of the other celestials know you as I do, not even your parents. And you view me differently than you view other celestials."

"You tried to understand me. I don't know how much I'd say you succeeded, but at least you tried. And you didn't look down on me, not like the others do."

"I am the only celestial you haven't rejected. That's why it had to be me. Were it anyone else, your decision would have already been made. If you choose to remain here, you are rejecting heaven. As the only celestial you were even remotely close to, I knew it had to be me who came. You've figured this out, though, have you not?"

"You're the only thing about heaven I'd care about losing," Tenshi said. "The only thing I wouldn't want to lose. You're a good person, Iku. Better than anyone else up there. And you're right; I would rather not lose you. But if I have to choose between you and Keine, there's no question which choice I'll make. I've already made it. My being here shows my choice."

"Heaven will not interfere," Iku said, "not anymore. I can ensure that much. But the price for coming here, for choosing Keine over heaven, is that, as you reject heaven, heaven rejects you. You may still be a celestial in being-nothing can change that-but you will no longer be counted as one of us. You will no longer be of heaven, and you will not be allowed to return, not even if at some point in the future heaven lifts its isolation."

"I may miss you," Tenshi said, "but as I said, I've made my choice."

"You said it, and far more importantly, you showed it. Had you held back against me, it would have indicated some degree of uncertainty, of regret, of wondering if you were truly making the right choice. I had to know this was not the case, and more importantly, I had to be sure that you knew. There is no undoing this choice; were there any uncertainty on your part, I could not have let you make it. I had to come after you, Tenshi; there was no other option I was willing to accept."

"I understand. And... well, you care enough to have done this for my sake, so thank you."

"You are welcome." Iku paused. "We may not have always gotten along, but I will miss you, Tenshi."

"Same here, Iku. I hope I can see you again some day, if heaven's isolation is ended."

"A sentiment I share. Until then, however, this is goodbye."

"Farewell, Iku," Tenshi said. She watched as Iku flew away, returning to heaven. "And thanks."

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, I know, long wait for a short chapter. Sorry about that. Been fairly busy lately. Also there was some stuff in this chapter that was hard to write.<strong>

**Anyways, if you guys were looking forward to seeing Yuuka, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. I wanted to have a scene with her, but I just couldn't write her in a way I was satisfied with. I did get her backstory in, though. I've never liked the typical portrayal of her, but I didn't think her small role here was worth completely redoing her character, so instead I came up with a version of a more 'typical' Yuuka, but done in a way I thought was better. Of course, that resulted in me not actually having her in a scene; I just couldn't capture her mental state satisfactorily.**

**So what else happened... well, Kaguya's got a plan now for dealing with Eientei's current state. Oh, also there was the whole thing with Tenshi and Iku. That was a hard part to write, and not just because of my difficulties with fight scenes. I haven't done to much in the way of more emotional stuff, so that was also tricky. I think I pulled it off, though, but either way, let me know what you think.**

**Well, next chapter is back to the Junk Heap. Remember how I said NieR gets really depressing in its second half? Well, you're about to see some of that.**

**And, of course, reviews are appreciated.**


	17. Chapter 17: The Law of Robotics

**Chapter 17  
><strong>_The Law of Robotics_

Seeing that the fight was finished, Keine returned to Tenshi. "What happened? Where's Iku?"

"She left," Tenshi said.

"You won, then. For now, at least."

"Not 'for now'. She won't be coming back."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first of all, Iku asked to come after me. The short version is that she wanted to be sure I knew what I was doing."

"And she had to fight you for that?"

"She had to try to take me back with her," Tenshi said. "I'm sure she had to promise her best effort to do so before they let her come after me. And the fight was also a show of resolve, because there's no turning back now. Iku also wanted to be sure I understood that. Because I made this choice, I've essentially been exiled. I am no longer allowed in heaven."

"You... are you sure you're okay with that?"

"I'm still here, aren't I?"

"Yes, but... I mean, it's one thing to intend not to go back, and another to truly not have the option."

"There's nothing for me in heaven," Tenshi said. "Here, I have you. This is my home, not heaven."

"...This is bothering you, then."

Tenshi chuckled. "That obvious?"

"You don't exactly have a habit of saying cheesy romantic things like that."

"...I suppose not. Well, yes, I'd rather not have to choose between there and here, I guess. Never was too fond of heaven, but it was my home for quite some time. And I'll miss Iku, if nothing else. But do I have doubts? Do I worry that perhaps I made the wrong choice? No. I would rather not have to make the choice, but there's no question what my choice is."

"As long as you're sure," Keine said.

"I'm sure," Tenshi said.

"I'm glad to hear it. I don't want to lose you again."

"That," Tenshi said, "is something you don't need to worry about."

* * *

><p>"Hey," Yuugi said as Nue and Levia entered the room. "How'd it go?"<p>

"We found it," Nue said.

"That's good. Three left, then."

"Yeah. One's probably in the Junk Heap, one's likely in Facade, and we have no idea where the other one is."

"The Junk Heap and Facade," Yuugi said. "Where are you going first?"

"Probably the Junk Heap."

"Works for me."

"Works for- you intend to come with me? Are you sure you should be doing that?"

"I'll be fine," Yuugi said. "Besides, those robots are easy enemies. Even that big head was pretty simple, and it's not there anymore."

"...Well, if you're sure."

"What, you think this is the first time I've been injured like this? Don't worry; I know what I can and can't handle. I'll be in good enough shape by tomorrow."

"All right, then," Nue said. "We head out tomorrow morning. Until then, let's get some rest."

"Works for me."

* * *

><p><em>I had vivid dreams that night, something I wasn't expecting just yet. They were caused, I have no doubt, by the key frame. Noir's brute-force attempt to control me failed, so the Shadowlord is likely attempting a more subtle approach in the hope that it will succeed.<em>

_Dreams are an extremely effective means of exerting a subtle influence over time, but generally this starts slowly and subtlety enough that most wouldn't notice, wouldn't remember anything unusual in their dreams (myself being among the minority, those who would notice). Then as time goes on, they would hear whispers in their dreams, have vague flashes of places or people or actions. And going along with this would be a sense of uneasiness, of questioning. Gradually, these sounds and images would become clearer, and with this would come a strengthening sense that the dreams were important and a strengthening desire to understand them. And at this time, the effects would begin to show themselves outside of the dreams. Even when awake, the targets would feel a need, a need they could not place. The whispers would come while wide awake. People, places, and actions similar to any in the dreams would trigger a sense of recognition, of familiarity, and of significance. The dreams would steadily consume them until they could think of nothing else, and control would be established._

_Such a means of influencing the mind is much harder to resist than the brute-force approach, although I am among those who could resist it. But that's not quite what's happening here. The attempt to influence my mind seems to have skipped the initial stages and gone straight to more vivid dreams. This is likely an attempt to speed up the process while still keeping it harder to resist than the brute-force approach, an attempt to find a compromise between the two methods. Why the Shadowlord chose to do this, I do not know. It could easily make my hunt for the key fragments take as long as it wanted-if nothing else, it could keep one or more behind the lock-so it's not because of a need to finish before I do. I can only assume that there's a deadline on whatever they need the tablet for, but what that might be I do not know._

* * *

><p>They landed in front of the workshop. "Let's check in with Nitori and Mitori," Nue said. "If there's been Shade activity here, they'd be the ones to know about it."<p>

"Be wary," Levia said. "The mind I sense within is... disturbed."

"...Okay," Nue said. "Well, thanks for the heads-up, I guess."

Nue knocked on the door and Nitori's voice came in response. "Come in."

The workshop, as they saw upon entering, looked somewhat different than it had the last time any of them had been there. It was still a mess, but... differently so. The mess was confined to the pile of junk in the middle of the room. Nitori's actual workspace was much neater. But the most striking change was on the walls, which were now lined with all sorts of different weapons.

Nitori turned away from her work as the trio entered. "It's you three," she said. "Oh, yes, very good. Very good."

_She sounds... flat?_ Nue thought. _Monotonous-ish? Not emotionless, but... dulled? Numb...ish?_

The workshop wasn't the only thing different, as Yuugi was the first to notice. "Nitori, what happened to your arm?"

Nitori looked down at her left arm, or rather at the artificial limb that was where her arm should have been. "Oh, this? Yeah, I broke the old one, so I made a new one. Old one's on the wall over there if you want to see it."

They looked where Nitori pointed, and there was indeed an arm hanging on the wall. A badly injured one, at that. "Doesn't look broken to me," Yuugi said. "Hell of a lot of cuts, though."

"Cut important things. Couldn't move it any more, so I replaced it."

"What happened?"

"I told you. I broke it."

"Wait," Nue said, "are you saying _you_ did all that?"

"Yes."

_What the hell?_

"Explain yourself," Levia said. "I can tell that you suffered some manner of tragedy. What was it? What happened?"

"Something happening? Mitori dying is what happened. Just a few days after you all were here. I started going in with her, and, well, a couple days later, we got ambushed. We beat them all, but Mitori got hurt a lot, and then another robot showed up and finished her. Knocked the ceiling down on her."

"I see. You blame yourself for her death, then."

"What? No. Why would I do that? They killed her. The others ones weakened her, then that damn Shade and its robot killed her."

"There are Shades here?" Nue said. "In the Junk Heap?"

"Only seen the one. A little one, but it has a robot. Let me guess: you're here to kill Shades?"

"Yes."

Nitori giggled. "Very good, yes. It's deep inside. You'll have to go through a lot of robots. Rip 'em apart. Tear 'em to pieces. Ehehehehehehehehe."

"...Where exactly in there is it?"

"All the way in. Here's the elevator key." Nitori tossed the key to Nue. "It's a different key. You'll be in a different part than last time. The path should be straightforward-twists around a lot, but there aren't really any branches-and there'll be a lot of robots to break. Break 'em all. Smash 'em to bits."

"...Right," Nue said. "Come on, you two. Let's get moving."

* * *

><p>Mokou opened the door in front of her and immediately fell through the floor. She landed upright and immediately noticed that she was now standing on a wall. <em>This is new.<em>

The open door was on the opposite wall, directly above from Mokou's perspective, but rather than pass back up through the floor, she emerged into the hall on the ceiling. The door was still there, and when she passed through it this time, she found herself back outside of Eientei, everything once again right-side-up. _Well, that was interesting. All right, then. Make a note of that, then it's right back inside._

* * *

><p>[BGM=watch?v=Wmc3yji0G84]The new section of the Junk Heap, labeled 'B4F' by the elevator, was pretty much the same as the rest of the facility. Just corridors and rooms. The robots were the same, too, the electricity-using yellow-light ones and the shot-firing red-light ones. The turrets rising from the floor were present, as well. And all of them were just as easily destroyed as before.

"See?" Yuugi said as she ripped a yellow one in half, throwing the pieces away before they exploded. "This isn't any problem at all."

"Just watch yourself," Nue said, "all right?"

"I told you not to worry. Come on, let's keep moving."

As before, the turrets were leaving bombs behind when destroyed, and there were wooden fences blocking the path. And also as before, Yuugi simply broke through them.

Eventually, the three of them reached a 'room' that was more like a wider corridor. It extended for a ways, and appeared to eventually turn to the right and keep going. A short ways away from the entrance, the floor came to an end, leaving a pit extending the length of the 'room' that appeared to have some sort of liquid filling the bottom to a depth of about a foot. Extending out from the floor through the entire room, supported above the pit, was, of all things, a mine-cart track, with a cart waiting. "Okay," Yuugi said, "I'm pretty sure I said this a lot last time we were here, but I'll say it again: what the hell?"

"I don't know," Nue said, "but we probably need to get across."

"Well, we don't need the cart. Or the track."

"I'm wondering if we should use it, actually. There are Shades that can mess with flight; I see no reason there couldn't be something here that can do that."

"A logical concern," Levia said.

"All right, fine," Yuugi said, "but I don't like the idea of all of us in a small space like that, either. Let's just walk along the track."

Nue walked over and took a closer look at the track. "I wouldn't recommend that. I think it's electrified."

"Fine, but if shit starts happening, I'm jumping out."

"I'd expect something to happen, yes," Nue said, "but let's start in the cart anyways." She inspected the cart. "Hmm... I don't see any way to make this thing move. Maybe it'll start on it's own." She got in the cart, and as soon as she did, it did indeed start moving. Yuugi and Levia quickly jumped in as it started moving down the track.

Nothing of note happened until the cart reached the turn. After turning, the three of them saw objects lining the walls at the cart's level. Each was pointed in a set direction, firing a steady stream of shots. "Yeah, I thought so," Yuugi said.

"I don't think the cart triggered them," Nue said. "It looks like they're set to fire continuously. I'll take them out." She fired a beam at one of the turrets, but it took a few seconds to destroy it, too long to destroy them all before the cart reached them. Nue was about to form UFOs to assist when previously-unnoticed hatched in the walls opened, dumping out a new variety of robot, a flying kind. These ones were vertically-oriented, and about the same size overall s the regular land-based robots, though shaped differently, consisting of a narrow central shaft with a wider disk-shaped section about two-thirds of the way up the shaft. Each one had a red light on top of it, a single light rather than the two lights the land robots had.

These new robots began spraying shots wildly as soon as they emerged. "I don't think they liked you destroying the turret," Yuugi said.

"Clearly," Nue said. "Okay, I'll focus on the robots, but they're still coming and they're all heading towards us. Cover me, Levia. I may not get them all before they're close, and there'll certainly be shots to worry about, so clear out anything that gets close while I clear us a path through. Yuugi, take out those turrets!"

"Got it!" Yuugi leapt out of the cart and flew right at the nearest turret, slamming into it with enough force to crumple it, rendering it non-functional. As she did, though, different turrets came down from the ceiling and targeted her with lasers. _Is it because I'm flying?_ Yuugi flew into the next turret, smashed it, and ceased her flight, using the remains of the turret as a handhold/foothold. And as she expected, the lasers ceased.

Nue cut through a group of robots with a beam. "You all right, Yuugi?"

"Yeah. You were right; this corridor doesn't like flight."

"Is this going to be a problem?"

"Hell, no." Yuugi jumped away from the wall, landing on the next turret and crushing it before leaping to the next one. "I don't have to fly in order to smash these things."

"Good to know."

Yuugi kept leaping from wall to wall, each time landing on a turret and crushing it, while Nue focused on the robots. But the robots were still coming, and as the cart moved close to some of the hatches, she didn't have time to deal with them before they closed in even if there hadn't already been too many for her to take them all out before they reached the cart. But dealing with the ones that made it close wasn't her job. Levia handled them, lashing in arcs with her whip, cutting through both the robots and their shots.

Before long, the cart rounded the next corner. There were more turrets, but none right at the corner. They started a ways back from the corner, giving Yuugi a much longer jump, too long for her to make without flight. Not that this stopped her. She waited for the right moment, then jumped, landing on one of the robots. The force was enough to send the robot plunging into the liquid below, but Yuugi jumped off before this happened. She didn't have time to get purchase for a decent jump, and so still couldn't reach the next turret, so instead she landed on another robot, then leapt to another, using them as stepping stones until she could reach the next turret, then resumed her turret-to-turret leaping.

The cart soon made another turn, finding another set of turrets. But those went down just like the last set, and when the cart made the next turn, there were no more. "Don't see any more turrets," Yuugi said as she leapt back into the cart.

"It looks like the robots aren't coming after us anymore, either," Nue said. "And I believe that's the end of the track up ahead."

It was indeed, and when the cart reached it, the trio stepped back onto solid ground. "Well, that was weird," Yuugi said. "Although this place hasn't made any sense yet, so why should it start now?"

"Yeah. Well, come on, let's keep moving."

The next room was a large cylindrical chamber. A staircase wrapped around the outside of the room, making one and a half loops before ending at the other side. In the middle of the chamber was a large shaft, terminating a ways above."Is it just me," Yuugi said, "or is there something familiar about this room?"

"I had the same thought," Nue said. "Hold on for a second." She flew up to the top of the cylinder, then came back down. "Yep, this is where we fought that Geppetto thing."

"Which means this floor can be reached from this room and from the entrance elevator. I think two ways down here is the first even remotely sane thing about this place."

"Except these stairs don't go up that far. Yeah, people could just fly down here, but still, it seems inconsistent."

"Well, then it's this place's usual strangeness."

"Yeah."

They ascended the stairs and passed into the next corridor, but this one wasn't empty. At the end of it, before the next door was a large, humanoid robot, about three times the height of any of them. It fled through the door as soon as it caught sight of the trio. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Yuugi said.

"There is a high likelihood that we have located our target," Levia said.

"Let's move it, then. Don't want to let the thing get away, now, do we?"

There was no sign of the robot in the next room, which was an elevator chamber. An increasingly faint clanking could be heard from above. "Looks like this one only goes up from here," Nue said. "The robot must have gone up it. That sound is probably it climbing up the shaft."

"Let's hope our key works on this elevator," Yuugi said.

It did, and they rode the elevator up, exiting it into another corridor. The robot was nowhere in sight, so they passed into the next room, which would have been unremarkable if not for the large hole in the floor.

Nue looked into the hole. "That's the Geppetto chamber again."

"Wasn't any hole in the roof last time," Yuugi said. "Why's there one now when there wasn't then?" She paused for a moment. "Not that we haven't seen stranger from this place. Robot's down there, right? Let's go break it."

They jumped down the hole, Nue noting as they fell into the Geppetto chamber that the opening closed once they passed through it. They landed in front of the robot, finally able to get a good look at it. "That looks like mythril plating," Yuugi said. "You think it used some of the scrap from Geppetto?"

"Sounds logical," Nue said. "Seems outside the normal behavior for these robots, though."

"We've seen stranger here."

"True enough."

There were two other noteworthy points about the robot. One was the small plate on the chest area that said 'P-33', clearly an identification number. The other was the guardrail-like ring, a foot or so high, on its head, in which there was a fairy-type Shade. The Shade pointed at the trio and made a noise. "Engaging targets," the robot said.

[BGM=/watch?v=hWSkW8TKrXc&list=PL8DDD2D047A076DC8&index=15]"Okay," Yuugi said, "the limbs look less armored. You two hit those." She slid the spikes on her gauntlets down into position. "I'm gonna punch some holes in this thing."

"Works for me," Nue said. "Let's do this."

Yuugi ran at P-33, leapt up, and punched it in the chest. The robot slid back a few feet, then stepped forward and took a swing at Yuugi. Yuugi ducked under the strike and grabbed the arm, spinning the robot around and tossing it at the wall. P-33 reacted in time to push off the wall, firing shots at Yuugi as it tried to land on her. Yuugi evaded and went in for another hit, but P-33 connected with a swing, knocking her away.

Nue ran in and thrust her trident into P-33's arm. It tried to hit her with its other arm, but Levia ensnared it with her whip, giving Nue time to back away. The robot quickly moved towards Levia, loosening the slack enough to take a swing at her. Levia leapt over the strike, landed on P-33's other arm, and thrust her hand into the opening made by Nue's strike. It tried to hit her away, but Yuugi intercepted the strike and knocked it away. Levia sent water into P-33, which had an almost immediate effect. The robot started jerking around wildly, electrical charges running over its surface. Levia took a hit from one, getting knocked back.

"Error," P-33 said. "Error. Err-rr-rr-rr-or." It jerked around again, but then both the jerking nd the charges stopped. P-33 generated an electrical field at its feet, then began rapidly spinning in place, arms outstretched and firing shots. Yuugi flew over the shots and attacked from above. She aimed for the head, but P-33 jerked it aside at the last second and Yuugi struck its shoulder. The hit was enough to knock P-33 out of its spin, allowing Yuugi to flip down and strike its chest again."

P-33 tried to step forward but instead fell to one knee. "Errororororor." The Shade made another noise. "Continuing."

P-33 stood, and then the pillar they were all on seemed to shake. Pieces of seemingly-random junk flew up around it as the shaking stopped. The pieces collected on P-33's back, forming into the shape of wings that it immediately used to take to the air, hovering a few yards above the platform.

"Okay," Yuugi said, "I'm just gonna say it: what the fuck?"

"This is unusual," Nue said

"Understatement much? I'm pretty sure that's not how any of that works. I don't know what the hell I'm seeing, but I still don't think it works like that."

"And even if the rest of it did, it's not even behaving correctly in the air. Flight using wings just doesn't work that way. It's behaving in the air like we do, but it couldn't fly without the wings that simply don't do that."

"Right," Yuugi said. "Well, whatever. This won't keep us from smashing it."

The robot rose its arms straight up and shot upwards into the ceiling, where it began spinning around, pieces of the ceiling falling off plummeting to the platform below. "Escape. Escape. Escape. Escape."

"Like hell you are!" Yuugi leapt into the air, smashing through any falling pieces in her way. She grabbed P-33 by the leg and tossed it down. The robot righted itself in time to rebound off the platform and began circling it, rapidly firing a large spread of shots. Yuugi tried to approach, but the combination of P-33's movement and shots made this problematic. Until Nue sent some UFOs over to clear a path. "Thanks!"

"I'll worry about the shots," Nue said. "You get close and smash that thing!"

"Got it!"

Levia, meanwhile, waited until P-33 passed close to her and wrapped her whip around its arm, pulling herself in as the robot pulled her around the chamber. She used this to anchor herself as she began smashing the other arm, the one she'd damaged earlier. Each hit damaged it more, and then Yuugi made it in, finishing the job by knocking the arm clean off. This left a hole where the arm had been attached, which Levia used to blast the robot's interior with water again, her and Yuugi jumping off as it once again became electrified. "Error-or-or-or."

"I think we're making progress," Yuugi said.

"Intrud-d-d-ders. Exterminating. Ing. Ing. Ing."

"Then let's do it again," Nue said. Once again, she cleared a path through the shots, allowing Yuugi and Levia to approach. This time, P-33 tried to evade, but Levia one again took hold of its arm with her whip, pulling herself in and grabbing Yuugi, pulling the oni in with her. They smashed the arm until it, too, was gone, then Levia blasted the robot again and they jumped off.

The now heavily-damaged P-33 once again rose up and slammed into the ceiling. "Go. See the world. Ld. Ld."

"The hell's it going on about now?" Yuugi once again flew up, grabbed the robot by the leg, and threw it down, but this time, although it did right itself, P-33 failed to rebound off the platform, instead crashing into it.

The Shade riding on P-33's head leapt off as the robot collapsed to the ground. It made a noise and charged Nue, who promptly impaled it upon her trident and slammed it into the ground, killing it.

P-33 tried to recover, but just collapsed again immediately, its energy fading. "Must... defend... my... mission. Mission. Mission. Miss...ion..." Its words slowed and stopped, and all function ceased.

[/BGM]

* * *

><p>Kaguya found herself in a familiar room. <em>One of Eirin's storage rooms. Looks just like I remember it. Well, aside from having no color. <em>The room was indeed colorless; it and its contents were entirely in shades of gray, even Kaguya herself. _Not something I've seen before, but then, that's a fairly regular occurrence here._

Kaguya took a look around the room. Much of the stock was gone, but there were still some items on the shelves. The lack of color made it harder to tell them apart by sight, but fortunately, Eirin had made sure everything was labeled clearly. Most of what remained was fairy basic, not worth taking, but one small vial caught Kaguya's eye. _That's... Grand Patriot's Elixir? I didn't know she kept any of that in here. Hmm... only two doses, but still worth taking._ Kaguya pocketed the vial and exited the room, finding herself back outside Eientei. She looked herself over, seeing that she was still in black-and-white, but as she looked, color began slowly returning to her.

Soon, Mokou emerged from Eientei, stopping in her tracks upon seeing Kaguya, whose coloring was still faint. "What the-? The hell happened to you?"

"Got turned black-and-white."

"O...kay."

"Not the strangest thing that's happened in there, and it's fading. More importantly, I found something interesting in there." She showed Mokou the vial.

"'Grand Patriot's Elixir'? What's that?"

"Something special Eirin came up with. Basically, it provides a significant boost to the user's vitality. Doesn't make you any stronger, at least not if you're human or Lunarian-Eirin designed it for lunar rabbits, and it does have a strengthening effect on them, but the biology's different enough that that part of the effect is lost for most others-but it'll keep you in peak condition for longer. Very useful for most, although it won't affect you or me. Apparently some component of the Hourai Elixir neutralizes it."

"Sounds like it could be handy for someone else, though. Maybe we should take it to the village or something."

"I was thinking along those lines as well," Kaguya said. "For now, though, let's head back inside."

* * *

><p>The trio stood next to what was left of P-33. "Well, that was interesting," Yuugi said.<p>

"Yeah," Nue said.

"Did we obtain what we are looking for?" Levia said.

Nue produced the key frame. "Yeah, the third piece is in here." She returned the frame to the nether. "Looks like we're done here."

"You killed it." The trio turned to look, seeing a heavily-armed Nitori entering the chamber. She ran over to the robot's ruined body and started kicking it. "Die, you stupid thing! You evil, stupid, evil... now you're dead! Stupid piece of shit!"

"Calm down, Nitori," Nue said. "We took it out. No need to beat on it."

"But Mitori's dead! And it's this thing's fault! And hitting it MAKES ME FEEL BETTER!" Nitori then went back to yelling at the robot. "You think this is over? I'm gonna kill all of you! You hear me? ALL OF YOU!"

"Let us leave her," Levia said. "I do not believe there is anything we can do here."

"Yeah," Nue said, "I think you're right. All right, then. Let's go."

* * *

><p><strong>I remember I had a couple reviews back when Nitori and Mitori first appeared from people pleased to see those two characters, and I wondered what their reactions would be when getting to this part.<strong>

**Right, so another chapter that's shorter than I expected. I think what's going on is that, well, less is going on. Nue's plotline is still active, but Mokou and Kaguya's is in a slow period, and the Keine/Tenshi subplot has now reached its resolution. Next chapter should be longer, though; it'll still be mainly Nue's group, which will be going to Façade next, but there's quite a bit that's going to happen there.**

**It's been a while, but I'm back to showing Kaguya and Mokou exploring Eientei. I got a lot of positive comments about those bits, and decided that with the Kaguya/Mokou plotline fairly inactive, it was a good time to have more. The Grand Patriot's Elixir, by the way, is one of Reisen's moves in Scarlet Weather Rhapsody/Hisotensoku; it gives her a buff each time she uses it, but she explodes if she uses it four times in a match (which can be used as an attack if you do it right, but either way, you lose the buffs). Kaguya finding some is totally not going to come up again later.**

**I'm not sure I really got Nitori the way I wanted, but I think her mental state came through well enough. Not that the NieR character she's filling the role of, Gideon, also loses an arm, but unlike Nitori, he doesn't have the technology to make a proper replacement; he just attaches a metal one that hangs there uselessly. He's gone just as crazy, though.**

**As with the first visit, what Nue's group found in the Junk Heap was taken from NieR. Yes, there's a random mine-cart section (it plays as a top-down shooter). I turned up the intensity to fit this setting, though. P-33, too, fights much as he does in NieR, including the flying part. Yes, it actually gets wings made of random junk and flies with them, and yes, it's as strange as it sounds.**

**Anyways, that's it for this chapter. As usual, I strongly encourage reviews.**

**Well, see you next chapter.**


	18. Chapter 18: Loyal Cerberus

**Chapter 18  
><strong>_Loyal Cerberus_

The first thing Nue's group did upon returning to the human village was check in with Keine. "Ah, you're back."

"We are," Nue said, "and we found another piece. Just two more. Although we don't have any clue as to where one of those is."

"But we do know the other's probably in Facade," Yuugi said, "right? So we're going there next."

"Yes," Nue said, "that's our next destination."

"I actually just received a letter from there," Keine said. "It's for the three of you." She handed the letter to Nue. "It seems Queen Sechs is having a wedding tomorrow afternoon, and she'd like the three of you to attend."

"Huh. There wasn't any sign of an impending royal wedding when we were there a month ago. Fyra did mention that she and Sechs were engaged, but that was it. No evidence that the date of the wedding was this close."

"No way we could know anything about that," Tenshi said. "You'd have to ask the kappa about that one."

"It's not worth bothering," Yuugi said. "They'll just say it's because of a rule. Maybe a royal wedding has to happen soon after the proposal, maybe they're just not allowed to talk about it, whatever it is, it's 'cause of a rule. Probably a rule behind why we're being informed so last-minute, too."

"Most likely, yes," Nue said. "Still, I see no reason to decline the invitation. After all, we'll be going there anyways."

"Yeah, my thoughts, too. When are we leaving?"

"Hmm... well, I'd say let's leave today. We've still got half of today left, so no need to leave immediately, but if we get there in the afternoon, there'll still be time to ask around about the wolves and such. We can look into anything we hear during the day tomorrow, then attend the wedding and, assuming we've finished our business there, leave the morning after."

"Works for me," Yuugi said. "You coming, Levia?"

"The considerations applying to our last visit still apply," Levia said, "but yes, I will accompany you."

"All right, then," Nue said. "We could probably stand to rest up a bit after this morning-especially you, Yuugi-so let's say we leave in about two hours or so."

"I'm fine, Nue," Yuugi said, "but sure, that works."

"All right, then. We'll meet at the tavern when it's time to go."

"Got it."

* * *

><p>Kaguya emerged from Eientei to find Mokou waiting. "We about done here for today?"<p>

"I think so," Kaguya said. "We training against each other today, or are we going to look for targets to team up against?"

"Team up. That's the part we need practice at more. I just wish we had something better than shades to practice against we have a visitor."

"Hmm?" Kaguya turned to look. "That's Oricla. I wonder what she-or, rather, Lady Nightbug-wants?"

They didn't have to wait long to find out, as the butterfly youkai soon landed in front of them. "Greetings. Lady Nightbug has asked me to bring you to the clearing where you have been training. She has prepared opponents for you to fight together."

"Convenient timing," Mokou said, "although I guess that's easy to pull off when you can see and hear through every insect in the forest. I assume she's heard us discussing that need and found a solution for us."

"Non-youkai insects tend to have short lifespans even if nothing kills them, and due to sheer numbers, there are a lot of insects dying every day. Lady Nightbug has been gathering these dead insects, and has molded their bodies together into constructs for you to train against."

"She can do that?"

"Indeed," Oricla said. "She will animate them and pit them against you."

"She can do that?"

"With difficulty. Living insects she can control much more easily, but their bodies could not be molded together without killing them, so using still-living insects would make no difference. Dead insects have no minds for her to control, so she must instead control their bodies directly. This is simplified by molding said bodies together, but it still takes enough effort that she can only animate one construct at a time. And before you ask, no, a construct could not contribute meaningfully in a battle against Utsuho; they are particularly vulnerable to heat and flames."

"Then I'll need to hold back my own fire," Mokou said. "Of course, Utsuho's highly resistant to fire, so I won't really be using any against her, either."

"We thank Lady Nightbug for her aid in this," Kaguya said. "It sounds like this is what we want, Mokou. Let's go take a look."

* * *

><p>The flight to Facade was uneventful. As Nue and the others landed within the city, a guide ran up to them. "You are Nue, Yuugi, and Levia, correct?" Nue nodded. "Queen Sechs told us to be on the lookout for you, as she didn't know if you'd arrive today or tomorrow. She requests your presence at the palace."<p>

"Weren't we going to ask around about the wolves and stuff?" Yuugi said.

"I can't think of a better place to ask than the palace," Nue said. "If Sechs herself doesn't know, she can probably point us towards someone who would." She turned back to the guide. "Certainly. Do you need to lead us there, or can we go on our own?"

"Given the circumstances of your visit," the guide said, "yes, the rules say I must lead you there."

"Then lead on."

* * *

><p>Kaguya cut the construct's head off, but although the head fell to the ground, the body did not, nor did it stop moving. The construct, too, wielded a sword, and went for Kaguya's head. Then Mokou's sword pierced its arm, interrupting its swing. "Thanks," Kaguya said, "but next time could you try not to also hit me?"<p>

"A blade stuck in your shoulder is far better than losing your head," Mokou said. She pulled her sword free as Kaguya cut off the construct's arm.

The construct dropped to the ground, lying flat on its back. The severed head and arm floated over to it, and the process of reattaching them began. It would take a couple minutes, but then, periodic breaks were good to have anyways, and it meant that unless they incinerated or otherwise obliterated any portion of it, the construct would soon be ready for more.

When it was once again whole, the construct rose into the air, but it did not attack, instead letting Kaguya and Mokou choose when to begin the next round. "Looks like it's ready again," Mokou said.

"Then let's begin the next round," Kaguya said.

"Right, then. Go!"

* * *

><p>The guide led Nue's group into the palace, where they were soon met by Sechs. "Nue, Yuugi, Levia. I am pleased to see you here."<p>

"Hello, Sechs," Nue said. "Where's Fyra?"

"Elsewhere in the palace. This close to the wedding, only specific individuals are allowed to see her until the ceremony, and no, this list is not one I am on. There are rules, after all. But we will all see her tomorrow, and I'm sure it will please her that you're here."

"Didn't give us much notice," Yuugi said, "but fortunately, yeah, we were able to come."

"I would apologize for that, but I am afraid I had no control over it."

"Rules, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, we would have come here anyways," Nue said. "We have reason to believe that something we're looking for may be around here."

"Again you seek something in the desert?"

"Well, we don't know for sure that it's here, but the clue we have to its location is 'loyal cerberus', 'cerberus' being a canine beast in outside-world mythology. We thought it might be referring to the wolves."

"Hmm... well, they have been giving us difficulties as of late. I'm afraid there isn't much to tell you, though. We believe they have a lair somewhere in the desert, but no efforts to find it have succeeded, nor have we yet been able to track any wolves back to it. Although this may be largely because the rules limit what actions we can take. We'd have found it by now if we could truly search."

"You don't know where to find them. That's... unfortunate. I'm really not fond of the idea of wandering the desert hoping to get lucky."

"Such a course of action may be unnecessary," Sechs said. "Our research team has just finished a prototype tracking device. If we can place it on one of the wolves, we will be able to see where it goes. This should allow us to locate their lair without violating any rules. The rules will still limit what we can do with that knowledge, but those rules don't apply to you."

"Huh," Yuugi said. "Well, we were hoping to take care of our business here before the wedding, but I guess if we can't, we can't."

"I do not believe it will be long before an opportunity to use the device presents itself. As I mentioned, the wolves have been giving us difficulties. I expect another encounter within the next day or two."

"Still leaves us with nothin' to do in the meantime."

"Not... quite. I hesitate to ask this of my guests, but I am certain that if I do not, Nakari will."

"Nakari? Is this about the Black Scrawl?"

"Ah, yes, you met her on your first visit. She mentioned that to me soon after. Nakari's area of expertise is actually archeology; she was brought onto the Black Scrawl project when the Barren Temple became a place of interest. Ever since your prior visit here, she has been eager to take a team into the structure."

"Not surprising," Nue said, "given what we saw in there. Should I assume you've been too busy to return there yourself?"

"Yes, and the rules prohibit entry except in the presence of a royal."

"Which they consider me to be," Yuugi said. "You think Nakari's gonna ask me to go."

"Undoubtedly."

"Hmm... well, guess it can't hurt. Probably more Shades there, too, so I can take them out while I'm there. What about you, Nue?"

"I don't think so, not this time. The clue is probably referring to the wolves, and, well, you remember last time we were here, right? When they attacked us? They were not normal."

"Yeah, I remember that."

"The kappa have been dealing with those wolves for a while now. I'm going to look into that, see what the people here know about them."

"You would do well, then, to speak with Rekena and Iris," Sechs said, "two other scientists. Their focus is the wolves. Rekena has been studying them, while Iris specializes in weapons development."

"Sounds like Rekena's the better one to speak with, then. Although if Iris has been making weapons for use against the wolves, she might have a few tips for fighting them."

"She has developed some specialized weaponry, yes. Most of her work, however, is general-purpose, just as effective against most any foe. We do have to concern ourselves with Shades, after all, even if they do rarely show themselves here."

"Yeah, there's no predicting those. Levia, what'll you do tomorrow? I know you cant go to the temple, so are you sticking with me tomorrow?"

"That is probable, yes," Levia said.

"It seems as though you have your plans for during the day tomorrow," Sechs said. "As for right now, pre-wedding festivities will be underway this evening, and I would like it if you would attend."

"Like I'd ever pass up a party," Yuugi said.

"Very good, then. I'm afraid I have tasks I must see to, so I will see you this evening."

* * *

><p>"I think you broke it," Mokou said.<p>

"It's how I would've reacted in that situation in a real battle," Kaguya said. "Blast into the wound. You know that. I've done it to you many times."

"And I've returned the favor. And I certainly understand acting as though this was real, but... well, I think you might have put a bit much power into it. You didn't need to blow away half of the construct. I don't think it can be put back together anymore."

"Again, it's what I would have done in a real battle. Well, not against Utsuho, but in most fights? In any fight where I wasn't concerned with leaving the enemy alive? That's most certainly how much power I'd have put into it. Besides, I didn't think it'd do quite that much damage to the construct. That thing's proven very tough. Guess the pounding we gave it that made that opening took its toll."

Oricla walked over to the pair. The construct was not capable of speech, so Oricla had remained to relay Lady Nightbug's words. "It doesn't matter," she said. "The constructs are, after all, expendable. And Lady Nightbug does have more than just this one. In addition, insects die at a high rate. Lady Nightbug has plenty of material from which to mold additional constructs."

"See?" Kaguya said. "Nothing to worry about."

"Lady Nightbug knew you were likely to destroy the constructs over the course of your training. She was expecting this."

"Smart of her, then," Mokou said. "But Kaguya, do remember that we do, in fact, want to keep Utsuho alive. Try to keep that in mind."

"Sure thing," Kaguya said. "Another round, or are we done for the day?"

"Done for the day," Mokou said. "I'm going to go visit Keine."

"Weren't you just there the other day?"

"She's my friend, Kaguya, even if it's been a while since we spent much time together. Going to visit a friend is hardly unusual behavior."

"...True. Very well, then. I'll meet you back at the house. Or at Eneitei in the morning, if you decide to stay the night with her again."

"Probably not."

"The house it is, then."

"I, then, shall take my leave," Oricla said. "Let us meet here again tomorrow."

"Works for me," Mokou said. "See you then."

* * *

><p>"I can't believe they have a rule governing the timing and water temperature," Nue said as the trio returned to the palace that evening, heading for the rooms they were being provided during their stay.<p>

Yuugi laughed. "Just be glad they don't have any rules against shapeshifting."

"An interesting evening," Levia said. "I have not before experienced a festive gathering of that nature, nor was I meant to. Though the latter applies to much of what I have experienced since my awakening."

"You're adjusting, though," Yuugi said. "You're getting used to it."

"She's right," Nue said. "When we first met, you attacked me and Byakuren out of confusion about the world you found yourself in. You're a long way from that now."

"I am indeed growing accustomed to this world," Levia said, "though saying I no longer find it unsettling would be a lie."

"That'll fade," Yuugi said. "Just give it some more time."

"I believe you are correct."

"Yeah. And if there is something you're having difficulty understanding or handling, just come to me. I'll help you through it."

"For which I thank you."

"Anytime, Levia. Anytime."

* * *

><p>The next morning saw Mamizou in the tavern, her usual spot. Was wasn't usual was Keine suddenly entering and heading directly for her. <em>Well, that's odd. Something must have happened. Hopefully it's not about Tenshi again. Or Mokou and Kaguya. <em>"Well, hey there, Keine. What's up?"

"I need your opinion on something," Keine said.

"_My_ opinion? I'm guessing this has nothing to do with Mokou and Kaguya, then."

"It doesn't. Mokou stopped by yesterday, yes, but it was just her visiting as a friend. No, this is something different."

"Well, I have to admit, I'm could you possibly want advice from me on?"

Keine handed Mamizou a letter. "This was just delivered, a reply to a letter I sent. I wasn't expecting this reply, though, and I'm... not sure what to think about it."

Mamizou read the letter. "You asked _them_ for help?"

"Only to be thorough. I never expected a response, and certainly not one like that. It's completely out of character for them."

"Which makes it suspicious."

"Yes."

"Why do you need my advice, though? It sounds like you've already decided this isn't to be trusted."

"Indeed," Keine said, "but I suspect someone there knows something. They would have no reason to send this otherwise. And Nue's bound to reach the same conclusion. She's going to want to go as soon as I show this to her, regardless of the risk."

"Probably, yes. The question is what Nue and the others should do to survive the trap."

"Indeed. And that is what I want your thoughts on. Whoever's behind this no doubt expects Nue to be accompanied by Yuugi and Levia, and will be prepared for this. Nue's going to need a plan, but I don't think she'll want to take the time to come up with one, so I'd like to have one ready by the time she returns. And you're the best person in the village to talk to when it comes to matters of trickery and duplicity, so I thought you would be the best person to help me formulate a plan."

"You hardly need me," Mamizou said. "I already know the solution, and it isn't anything crafty. Finesse isn't the answer here. They're prepared for Nue, Yuugi, and Levia; all Nue needs to do is hit them with something besides what they're expecting. And I think you know someone who can help with that."

* * *

><p>The day had been uneventful, but now was the wedding. The actual marriage portion had just concluded, and the official celebration had begun.<p>

"Nice to see a genuine celebration for once," Yuugi said.

"Yeah," Nue said. "Those are rare these days. Not a lot to be happy about with the world how it is."

"People often try to distract themselves from their troubles," Levia said, "but I do not believe this to be what is happening here. These people are genuinely happy for their ruler."

"Yeah, that's the impression I got," Nue said. "It's nice to see that for a-"

"Wait," Levia said. "Something is wrong. Someone approaches, someone bearing the scent of fear."

Sure enough, a kappa soon landed in the midst of the ceremony. Or tried to, at any rate. As soon as she touched down, she tumbled over, skidding a few feet before coming to a halt. The kappa, who bore the insignia of an outer guard, was badly injured and covered in blood, and her equipment was just as broken. She lifted her head up, a movement she could barely make, and looked at Sechs. "The... wolves..." she said, managing only those two words before the last of her strength faded.

[bgm=/watch?v=8bJq2usyC20]

There was silence for a moment, and then there were screams as wolves raced trough the city, attacking anyone they came across, what few there were still in the rest of the city, those few unable to attend the wedding. Most were at the ceremony, held in front of the palace, and the majority of the wolves headed directly for them.

Sechs reacted quickly. "Everyone, into the palace!" She then immediately began shouting orders to her personal guards. "You two, clockwise sweep through the city! You two, counter-clockwise! Ekina, you check the guard posts! Get anyone who can be spared over here now!"

"What about you?" The guard named Ekina asked. "That'll leave you unprotected."

"Like hell it will!" Yuugi said. "We can handle things here!"

"There's your answer, Ekina," Sechs said. "These three are far better in battle than even our greatest warriors. They will ensure my safety. Now go!" She then turned to Fyra. "We'll be safest in the palace. Come!"

As the gathered kappa ran for the palace, the wolves struck. Yuugi punched the first one, sending it flying into and knocking down several more. Other wolves came in from the sides, and Nue and Levia met them there. Nue formed several UFOs, but rather than having them fire on the wolves, she directed them to ram into the wolves, which didn't do much damage but did knock the wolves back, keeping them away from the crowd. Levia ensnared a wolf on her side with her whip and used it to knock other wolves back. And Yuugi simply kept hitting them into each other. But despite these efforts, the wolves were too quick and too numerous to keep back, and in short order were among the crowd.

Yuugi immediately ran into the crowd after the wolves. As she used her fists, it was easy for her to avoid accidentally striking any of the kappa. She did have to avoid knocking the wolves into any kappa, but this was as simple as hitting them with downward strikes, which knocked them into the ground. She moved fast, but she couldn't get them all, not quickly enough to avoid casualties. Fortunately, protecting the crowd would soon become much easier. The first kappa were just making it into the palace, and once they were all in, protecting them would be as simple as guarding the palace entrance.

Sechs and Fyra were nearing the palace when they found their way blocked. Wolves leapt down from the roof of the palace, putting themselves between the palace and the crowd, and immediately struck. As two of the nearest, Sechs and Fyra were both among the targets. Sechs avoided the attack, dodging to the side and aiming a kick into a wolf's head as it passed by her.

Fyra wasn't so lucky.

* * *

><p>Nue saw the new group of wolves jump in, and immediately recognized their intent to intercept the fleeing kappa. She moved in right away, picking the nearest wolf and putting her trident through its neck. She set green UFOs against another as she herself targeted a third, letting it charge her and impaling it through its open mouth.<p>

Then she saw it. A wolf that was not like the others. It bore the basic form of a wolf, but was actually something else. It was more solid-looking than the norm, but there was no mistaking the coloring, the strange material it seemed to be composed of. This wolf was a Shade.

And its claws were in Fyra's chest.

Nue charged the wolf-Shade, but Sechs got there first. The kappa ruler was unarmed, but she didn't care. She tackled it from the side, carrying it away from Fyra as they hit the ground. Sechs grabbed it's head and slammed it into the ground. The wolf-Shade wrenched its head free and bit down on Sech's arm. But her other arm was free, and she slammed her elbow into the creature's head, which gave her the opportunity she needed to pull herself free. The creature lunged for Sechs, but then Nue was there, piercing it through with her trident. But this wolf was a Shade, so it didn't show the damage anything else would have. It lunged at Nue, but then Sechs came in again and knocked it away.

By this time, most of the kappa had made it into the palace. And then other kappa arrived, the guards Ekina had been sent for. And unlike Sechs, these kappa were armed, and they immediately took aim and fired. It took multiple shots to down a wolf, and the wolves of course evaded as best they could, but the kappa guards were very efficient. Some wolves tried to charge them, but they kept firing as they evaded. Then Levia took position in front of them, keeping the wolves back and taking out a few herself.

The wolf-Shade leapt away from Nue and Sechs, landing a ways back from the fighting, and howled. Immediately, the other wolves pulled back and fled, the Shade following them. The kappa guards fired on the fleeing wolves, but only managed to get two of them. One kappa, though, had a different weapon, and she took careful aim before firing only a single shot, hitting the wolf-Shade dead-on. "Tagged."

[end bgm]

_Of course,_ Nue thought. _The tracker. _She walked over to the kappa in question. "You're tracking them?"

"Yes. We will be able to follow them to their lair. Which I expect our leader will be far too eager to do." She indicated Sechs, bent over a clearly-dying Fyra and screaming for a medic. "Fyra isn't a soldier, isn't a warrior. One of us would likely have fared better, but Fyra never strengthened her body the way we do, and she couldn't have flown away, either; the leader, the one that got her-we call it 'Roc'-can produce the same anti-flight field as tengu-type Shades. There was no escaping for her, and the wounds she suffered are too severe. There's nothing that can be done for her; I'm no medic, but even I can tell that much. I'm afraid Fyra's living her final moments."

They stood in silence as Fyra slowly turned her head towards Sechs and spoke her final words. "Sehcs... I... love you." Then her head fell back, and she stopped moving, her life at its end.

…

…

Everyone stood in silence, Sechs' grief the only noise. Nobody kept track of how long it was, but eventually Sechs got to her feet. She looked at the kappa next to Nue, who simply nodded. Then she spoke. "Gather your arms! The wolves die tonight!"

One kappa, clearly an adviser of some variety, stepped forward. "But... my lady, you can't! The rules state-"

"The rules? The rules are why we couldn't deal with the wolves yet! Why we hadn't even been able to find their lair! And now Fyra's dead because of them!"

"I understand your feelings, but we must follow the rules."

"I don't care! If the rules won't let us do what needs to be done, then screw the rules!"

That drew gasps from the crowd, but the adviser only took another step forward. "I am not willing to let you do that. If you intend to take such action, I am require to stand in your way."

After a few tense moments, Sechs backed down. "Fine!" She turned and stormed off into the palace.

Several kappa approached Fyra's body and carried it away, no doubt to prepare it for her funeral, while the rest of the crowd slowly dispersed, leaving Nue, Yuugi, and Levia by themselves.

Yuugi was the first to speak. "She's going to-"

"Yeah," Nue said.

"It won't end well."

"Yeah."

"...We're going, aren't we?"

"I am. Levia?"

"If I am able," Levia said, "then I am as well."

"Come on, then," Yuugi said. "Let's let her know."

* * *

><p>As Mokou and Kaguya returned to Mokou's house after the day's training, they found a visitor waiting for them. "Keine," Mokou said.<p>

"Hi, Mokou," Keine said. "Kaguya."

"I don't see you this far from the village very often. What's up?"

"I filled you in on Nue's current situation last night," Keine said. "After returning from Facade, she'll only have one piece left to find."

"Yeah. You said you didn't have any idea where to find it."

"That's changed. This morning, I received a letter saying that the sender has information about the final piece. The problem is that I have ample reason to believe it's a trap."

"I see where this is going," Mokou said. "Someone's set a trap for her group, so you're arranging for some backup."

"Indeed. Tenshi will jump at the chance, I'm sure, but the more people Nue goes in with, the better."

"So you came to ask us," Kaguya said. "Well, I'm up for it. Mokou?"

"Sure," Mokou said. "No reason we can't use this as part of our training, after all."

"Then it's settled," Keine said. "Nue's likely to return mid-morning tomorrow, and she'll probably want to head out as soon as possible. It'd be best if you're already there when she gets back."

"Normally I'm in Eientei in the morning," Kaguya said, "but I can always go in after we get back, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Good," Keine said. "In that case, I'll see you two tomorrow."

* * *

><p>They found Sechs on a balcony overlooking the city. She glanced briefly at the trio, then returned to staring out at the city. "You three. What is it?"<p>

"You're going after the wolves," Nue said.

"I am. Why? Are you here to talk me out of it?"

"Hell, no," Yuugi said. "We're going with you."

"I- what?" Sechs turned to face them. "You're... coming with me?"

"The leader, Roc," Nue said. "It's clearly a Shade. We thought from the start that the wolves probably have what we're looking for; now I'm sure of it. So we'd be going anyways."

"Yes, I thought as much, but... you're not going to stop me from coming? You're not going to leave me here and go without me?"

"Two months ago," Yuugi said, "the Shades attacked the underground, and most of the oni died, the survivors finding a new home above ground. I know very well the desire for revenge. I'm not going to deny you what I also desire."

"We're going first thing in the morning," Nue said, "as the sun's rising. If you cannot wait until morning, we won't stop you from going now, but..."

"If I do go alone," Sechs said, "I won't come back. I know. That's the only reason I haven't left yet. Fyra... wouldn't want me to throw my life away like that. But... this isn't about vengeance. I do want it, but it's not why action must be taken. The wolves need to die. They have proven themselves too much of a danger to ignore. Action must be taken, and if the rules prevent it and my people will not go against the rules, then it is necessary I do so by myself."

"Not by yourself," Nue said. "We'll make sure you come back alive."

"Thank you." Sechs again looked out over the city. "I am glad to know I'll have allies in this fight."

* * *

><p>"So," Tenshi said as she and Keine were having dinner, "where'd you run off to so suddenly earlier?"<p>

"The bamboo forest," Keine said. "I need Mokou's help for something. Kaguya's, too."

"Did something happen?"

"This morning, I received what appears to be a clue to the location of the last of the key pieces Nue's searching for, but it's clearly a trap. That being said, there may indeed be information regarding the key piece; if Nue's particularly lucky, perhaps even the piece itself, though that seems unlikely. Still, it's the only lead we have right now, and Nue'll want to head right into whatever trap there is. So I'm organizing some backup to go with her group, hit the enemy with more than they're expecting."

"I see," Tenshi said. "Interesting that you haven't asked me yet, though. Should I assume that's because you already know my answer?"

"Of course," Keine said. "There was no need to ask you. Anyways, I expect Nue'll want to leave as soon as she gets back tomorrow, so be ready to go as soon as she returns, all right?"

"No problem."

* * *

><p>In addition to the equipment she'd had in the Temple of Trials where she first met Nue and Yuugi, Sechs had with her a small device, the second part of the tracking system. Indicating where the tracker placed on Roc was, it would lead them straight to the wolves.<p>

It was early; the sun was just beginning to rise. Almost nobody was active yet, and the four of them had expected to make it out of the city unseen, at least until they passed the guard posts. But when they exited the palace, they found the adviser waiting for them, a row of kappa soldiers standing behind him. Fully armed and equipped soldiers, and the adviser was also fully-equipped. "Kotoro," Sechs said

The adviser, Kotoro, stepped forward. "Queen Sechs. You would violate the rules for vengeance?"

"I violate the rules because I must," Sechs said. "The wolves are a danger."

"So you say. Do you deny, then, that you desire revenge?"

"No. But it's not why this must be done. Or do you truly believe the wolves will not strike again? I go to fight them for myself, yes, but also for my people."

"Even if the rules forbid it?"

"Yes. Do you intend to stop me?"

Kotoro was silent for a moment before turning around to face the soldiers. "Warriors of Facade! Who is our leader?"

The soldiers responded in unison "Queen Sechs!"

"Who is our queen's beloved?"

"Lady Fyra!"

"Who took her from us, her and many others?"

"The wolves!"

"And how do we respond to this transgression?"

"We strike them down!"

Kotoro faced Sechs again. "My apologies, Queen Sechs. It took all night to get permission from every citizen for the war."

It was a few seconds before Sechs spoke. "You... talked to all of them?"

"I did."

"And nobody objected?"

"Not this time."

Sechs was silent for a moment. "The rules have limited our actions against the wolves until now, but It would seem that I may have been too quick to assume that this would continue to be the case."

"Know that we stand with you," Kotoro said. "We all do."

"Then I thank you. Now come; we have an enemy to deal with."

"Indeed we do. These are all the soldiers who could be made ready in the short time I had after obtaining permission in accordance with the rules, but I believe they will be enough to find victory. Where is the wolves' lair?"

"The wolves are in the sandstorm area," Sechs said. She showed Kotoro the locator device. "Right here. There's a mostly-enclosed area there, carved out of the rock, with only one way in from the ground. Yuugi says it was probably a rest area for oni from when they still made use of the temple."

"I've seen a detailed map of the area, actually," Kotoro said. "Nothing about it seemed artificial."

"It wouldn't," Yuugi said. "'Carved out' probably isn't the most accurate term. We'd've basically just torn rock out until it was a large enough space. Maps say there's a small oasis, so I'm guessing we started from there and just made the enclosed area larger."

"It's not a cavern," Sechs said; "it's open from above, though this matters little, given that the sandstorms prevent an aerial approach and Roc is able to hinder our flight anyways. But we will be sheltered from the sandstorms."

"The presence of a water source is also beneficial," Levia said, "as it is enough to make it possible for me to accompany you."

"That's good," Kotoro said. "Very well, then. We are ready, Queen Sechs."

"Then let's go," Sechs said.

* * *

><p>The wolves were assembled as though they'd been waiting. "Am I crazy," Yuugi said, "or were they expecting us?"<p>

"They were expecting us," Levia said. "Their emotions make that clear. How these creatures can have such emotions, however, I do not know."

"It doesn't matter," Sechs said. "We know that they're the enemy. Attack!"

[bgm=/watch?v=ZJKuyDs2pAE]

The kappa soldiers charged, and the wolves met them in battle. The kappa were significantly outnumbered, but their equipment gave them a definite edge. But the wolves' numbers were greater than expected, and the kappa would've had a difficult time on their own. As it was, though, they were not on their own.

A wolf came at one of the kappa from behind, but Yuugi grabbed it mid-leap and slammed it into the ground. A trio came at Levia, but the arc of her whip was enough to strike all three of them at once. Nue covered Sechs' back as the kappa ruler took aim and fired on a wolf that was targeting Kotoro. More wolves charged Sechs, but Levia intercepted these ones. "Such anger! Why do these beasts hold so much rage?"

Yuugi punched a wolf into the wall. "How should I know?"

Nue impaled a wolf on her trident, then pulled the weapon free and threw it into another. "We can think about that later! Focus on the fight! Kotoro, on your left!"

As the battle continued, it wasn't long before the leader, Roc entered the fray. It immediately charged Sechs, but Yuugi put herself in its way. "So the big dog enters the battle, huh? Well, bring it on!"

Yuugi and Roc charged at each other, but just as Yuugi got within range for a strike, Roc flipped backwards, blasting Yuugi with a set of energy waves as it did. "Interesting trick. Let's see what else you've got."

Levia wrapped her whip around a wolf and swung it around into several others before slamming it into the ground. A wolf came at her from behind, but she used a blast of water to launch herself into the air, then another to send herself rocketing back down before she rose too high into the sandstorm. She slammed into the wolf from above, the force more than enough to kill it.

A wolf managed to get its jaws around Kotoro's gun, and from the side so that Kotoro couldn't just shoot it, but the equipment of a kappa soldier contained more than just firearms. Kotoro kept hold of the gun in one hand, and a blade extended into her other. She thrust the blade down the wolf's throat, pulled her gun out, turned it on the wolf, and fired directly into its still-open mouth.

Roc was dashing around Yuugi, firing blasts from a distance while moving too quickly for the oni to close in. But Yuugi noticed an approaching kappa soldier and directed her next charge such that Roc's evasion put it right in front of the kappa's readied sword. The kappa thrust the sword into Roc, then hit a button that caused an electrical charge to run down the blade and through Roc. This didn't seem to have too much of an effect, though, and Roc quickly pulled free of the blade, but it did so only to find that Yuugi had closed the distance. It wasn't able to react in time, and Yuugi's strike connected, sending it into the wall. It recovered quickly, though, and another wolf attacked the kappa, preventing her from helping Yuugi as Roc resumed its previous pattern.

Nue spun to the side, avoiding a wolf's charge as she thrust her trident through its head. Withdrawing her weapon, she caught sight of Yuugi and Roc. _Guess closing in isn't going to work. Doesn't look like Yuugi'll get much done on her own, but I can attack from a distance while she keeps it busy. No, wait, better idea._ "Sechs! I think Yuugi could use some help, and after seeing you in action at the temple, I'm willing to bet you're the best shot here! Target Roc while she keeps it busy! I'll cover you!"

"With pleasure!" Sechs took aim and fired, scoring a direct hit on Roc. Roc took notice and charged at Sechs, but Yuugi got in its way again, forcing it to break off in order to evade her. A wolf came at Sechs, but Nue blasted it away as the kappa ruler fired again, this time barely missing as Roc just happened to change directions at precisely the right moment.

Kotoro sidestepped a wolf and cut down its side as it passed. Another kappa came in and finished it off as Kotoro chose her next target and fired. The wolf evaded, but doing so landed it right next to another kappa, who was quick to impale it with her blade. She triggered the electric charge, and unlike with Roc, it was quite effective here. The kappa let the wolf's violently-twitching body fall to the ground as she chose another target.

Sechs scored another hit on Roc, once again causing the wolf-Shade to charge her. Yuugi again moved to intercept, but this time another wolf lunged at her, and though she quickly threw it off, this allowed Roc to slip past. Sechs fired again, but Roc leapt to the side, evading the shot. Then Roc took a major hit as Levia slammed a wolf into it from above. Yuugi caught up and grabbed it slamming it into the ground repeatedly until its struggles weakened. Then she looked at Sechs. "You want this one?"

Sechs released her gun as a mechanical arm grabbed it, another arm placing a spear in her other hand. She gripped the spear in both hands and charged, leaping into the air and coming down onto Roc, her spear piercing all the way through its head.

[end BGM]

Once Roc went down, finishing off the remaining wolves was fairly quick. When the battle was over, Nue walked up to Sechs. "I think we're done here. You okay?"

"Yes," Sechs said. "I am unharmed, thanks in part to you."

Nue sighed. "I think you know that's not what I meant."

Sechs was silent for a moment. "I suppose I do, but... well, what would you have me say?"

"The truth, I'd think. Although I understand if you find it hard to say. I think I can guess, and, well, I understand."

"Do you?"

"This feels wrong to you," Nue said, "doesn't it?"

"Of course not. The wolves were a threat to my people. This was necessary."

"Of course it was. But you wanted it, and not as the ruler of Facade. You, personally, _wanted_ this. You did the right thing here, you know that, but you believe you did it for the wrong reasons. You're pleased at this outcome not for your people but for yourself, and _that_ is what's disturbing you."

"I..."

"Well, don't worry about it. That feeling means you know that doing this just for revenge would have been wrong. Which tells me that you wouldn't have done it just for revenge, that you only allowed yourself your vengeance because of the threat the wolves posed to your people. I'm correct, am I not?"

"I... yes, I'd say you are."

"Well, there you go, then."

"I suppose so." Sechs paused. "You are quite insightful, it would seem."

"Byakuren does stuff like that all the time, and when you live with her as long as I have, you pick up a few things."

"Based on what I've heard, she is a remarkable individual. I would be glad for the chance to meet her one day."

"Once I get her back," Nue said, "I'll be sure you have that chance."

* * *

><p><strong>We're nearing the end here; three more chapters and that's it.<strong>

**Anyways, things didn't turn out too well in Façade, did they? Yeah, Fyra dies like that in NieR, too. I did tell you this would get depressing.**

**So yeah, the Sacrifice fragment is next and last; we'll be seeing what happens with that one in the next chapter. Until then, I'll just say, as always, that any reviews are appreciated.**


	19. Chapter 19: Sacrifice

**Chapter 19  
><strong>_Sacrifice_

As usual, the first stop of Nue's group upon returning to the village was Keine's house. "Ah, Nue," Keine said upon opening the door. "Yuugi. Levia. Welcome back. How did it go?"

"It... depends on what you're asking about," Nue said. "There were... complications."

"You are back a bit later than I thought you'd be. What happened?"

"Well, to make a long story short, Queen Sechs' bride was killed."

"What?"

"Yeah," Yuugi said, "and during the wedding, too. The wolves were... coordinated. Not normal wolves. And they were lead by a Shade."

"A Shade?"

"Correct," Levia said. "It led a quick, hit-and-run attack on the city. They struck fast and fled as soon as the kappa were able to organize a response. The three of us fought as best we could, but there were casualties, and Fyra was among them."

"More victims," Keine said. "Damn. This needs to end."

"Agreed," Nue said. "And we're one step closer. The Shade did indeed have the fourth fragment. Now we only need the fifth. I don't suppose you managed to learn anything while we were gone, did you?"

"I did, actually," Keine said. "Come in, please. There's something I need to show you."

Sechs paced back and forth through her chambers.

This wasn't over. She knew that. It wasn't just about her people and the wolves. The Shades were involved; Roc, having clearly been one, was the proof. But why?

Sechs pushed that question from her mind, because there was a more important consideration: if the Shades had an interest in this area, they would return. And there was another factor: Nue had all eight of the black objects she'd been searching for on her first visit and was one piece away from completing the key. _This is the endgame, and it's certain the Shades know this. Whatever is going to happen will happen imminently._

Sechs exited her chambers and called for Kotoro, who quickly responded. "You have need of me, Queen Sechs?"

"Send notice into the city to gather. I am going to address my people."

"I sent letters to the leaders of every village," Keine said. "Well, except Facade, since I knew you'd be be heading there anyways. I was hoping, though not expecting, that one of them could provide a lead on the 'Sacrifice' fragment, and none of them did. Bun then yesterday, I received this." She handed Nue a letter. "It came from the Aerie."

"What?" Nue said.

"I know. I only included the Aerie for the sake of thoroughness; I never expected a reply. And what it says was even more surprising."

Nue read the letter aloud. "'_From the village chief of the Aerie: My greetings to you and your village. I hope everything is going well._

"_Our village has shut itself away from the world for far too long, and thus we have decided to change our ways. As part of this endeavor, we have resolved to establish a shop within the village. It is now open, and I look forward to seeing a great many customers visit from all over the world._

"_In regards to the 'sacrifice' keyword you wrote about, one of our villagers claimed to know the meaning behind the term. You are more than welcome to speak with her on the matter during your visit._

"_I hope to hear from you again soon._' And that's it."

"Well, gee," Yuugi said, "I wonder if it's a trap."

"Yeah. Seems likely."

"That," Keine said, "was my thought as well. I'm assuming, however, that you'll be going anyways."

"Of course," Nue said, "and as soon as possible, too. I'd like to leave right away, in fact; that fight with the wolves this morning wasn't significant enough to really wear us out any. But... if this is a trap, which there's little doubt of, it'll have been set with the assumption that Yuugi and Levia will be there with me. It'll be designed specifically for the three of us. Walking right into a trap meant specifically for us seems like a bad idea."

"Huh," Keine said. "I wasn't expecting you to say that. I thought you'd just charge in."

"I want to, but I'm smart enough to know it's a bad idea to walk into a trap meant for you without taking appropriate measures. I expect I'll be leaving shortly, though; it won't take long to prepare. Where's Tenshi?"

"Right here," Tenshi said as she walked into the room. "Guess you came up with the same plan we did, then. Keine's already gathered your backup, and it's more than just me."

Mokou followed Tenshi into the room, Kaguya behind her. "Keine asked for our help," Mokou said, "so we decided to alter today's training regimen."

"Then it seems I'm ready to leave right away," Nue said, "and with more aid than I thought. Thanks, Keine."

"I wasn't about to let you charge off on your own," Keine said, "but I want Byakuren back too, and this is the only lead we have on the final fragment. So head over there, deal with whatever trap is waiting for you, learn as much as you can, and then find that last fragment."

"Yes, ma'am," Nue said.

* * *

><p>They stopped outside the cave leading to the Aerie, the spot where Hina had made her appearance a month ago. "Levia," Nue said, "do you sense anything?"<p>

"I do," Levia said. "It is the same as the last time we were here. My ability to sense Shades is being interfered with, most likely due to a large Shade being nearby."

"Right. Mokou, circle around the village to the left. Kaguya, to the right. When you meet up on the other side, fly over the village-high enough to avoid upsetting the tengu-to get back here. I probably don't need to tell you that you're looking for anything. Big Shades, normal Shades, possible enemies that aren't Shades, signs of concealment-although a big one isn't going to be able to conceal itself-unusual wildlife activity, anything."

"Got it," Mokou said, and she and Kaguya took off.

"Okay," Nue said, "once they're back, we'll head in in two groups. I'll go with Yuugi and Levia; we'll head for the chief's place and see if the chief knows anything, then go from there until we spring the trap. Tenshi, you and the immortals will stay in the tunnel. You'll come in once the trap is sprung and the fighting's started."

"Works for me," Tenshi said.

It wasn't long before Mokou and Kaguya returned. "Nothing," Mokou said. "We didn't see anything."

"There is something here," Levia said. "I am sure of that."

"All right, then," Nue said. "Be on guard, everyone, and let's go."

* * *

><p><em>Well,<em> Nue thought as she, Yuugi, and Levia moved through the Aerie towards the chief's house, _we've already got one piece of evidence that the letter's a trap: this place has not gotten any cheerier. Hell, if anything, it's even worse than last time._

The three of them were met with calls of anger and despair from inside the locked houses. Cries of 'it's over!' and 'we're doomed!' and 'just leave us alone!' and 'it's all your fault!' "At least we've got a warm welcome," Yuugi remarked. "Seriously, was it this bad for you two last time?"

"It's gotten worse," Nue said.

"Perhaps so," Levia said, "but look over there." She indicated one of the large platforms, the lower of the two on which the group had previously done battle with Hook (and the only one remaining, as they'd smashed Hook through the upper one). Now, though, there were people there.

"Huh," Yuugi said. "That kind of does look like a small market area or something."

"Of course it does," Nue said. "That's part of the fiction used to lure us here, remember? I'm betting that going over there will spring the trap. So let's check with the chief first just in case, then head over there."

* * *

><p>The chief was just as unfriendly and unhelpful as last time, and as expected, had no knowledge of the letter. So the trio headed over to the market area, where they were promptly approached by a young tengu man. "Well, hello there! You look like you're looking for something."<p>

"Someone, actually," Nue said. "Someone claimed in a letter to know something about an object we're looking for."

"The 'Sacrifice' object? Yes, I know something about that."

_Too quick to figure it out. Definitely suspicious._ "What do you know?"

"I know you're after Shades. You're here to hunt them, right?"

"Um... no, we're here to find the Sacrifice object. Although we'll certainly kill any Shades we come across."

"I'm in this to hunt them," Yuugi said, "and whatever our immediate goals are, we all want to get rid of every single one."

[bgm = /watch?v=LMf-kDeAYCY]

"Every one?" The man said. "Every one every one every one." His voice changed, became deeper, the words melding together. "Everyoneeveryoneeveryone." The other tengu present joined in, their voies seeming to meld together, "everyoneeveryoneeveryoneeveryoneeveryone," as they degraded from understandable speech into the unmistakable sounds of Shades.

"Aw, crap," Yuugi said.

The tengu's bodies seemed to melt away, showing the forms of Shades. Not tengu-type shades, but mostly human-types, with a few of the larger oni-types as well. "You know, Levia," Nue said, "I think I just figured out why you've been sensing something weird around here."

"This does explain that," Levia said.

"Okay," Yuugi said, "well, I think we've sprung the trap, so let's kick some ass."

* * *

><p>Tenshi had been stealthily observing the village from the tunnel, and she quickly ducked back in and turned to Kaguya and Mokou. "Something's happening. I think the fight's started. Let's get moving."<p>

"Right," Mokou said.

The three of them ran out of the tunnel, and were quickly stopped by a group of tengu who landed in front of them. "Turn back," one of them said. "You aren't welcome here."

"Out of the way," Tenshi said as she and the immortals drew their swords. "You're not keeping us out. Either you let us pass, or we force our way in. So what'll it what the hell?"

The tengu's bodies seemed to melt away, leaving Shades in their places. "Well, that's a thing," Tenshi said. "Okay, let's do this."

Tenshi cut through the Shades quickly, aided by Mokou and Kaguya. "Okay," Mokou said when they were done, "look over there. That's where the other three are. We've gotta get there."

"Look in the air," Kaguya said. "We've got tengu-types, so no flying. We'll need to reach them on foot."

"Which'll take some doing," Mokou said, indicating the path to the platform Nue's group was on, a path that was quickly filling with Shades.

"We'll need to take them out anyways," Tenshi said. "This may be a better situation, actually. Nue's group is on one side, and we're on the other. We're coming at them from both sides. I could get us over to Nue's group more quickly, but instead, you two push through from this side while I clear out the tengu-types above us."

"Or we can just leave them be," Mokou said. "You can't get close 'cause of their flight-slowing thing, and blasting them down takes a while and they're fast enough to be hard to hit, too."

"I can get close," Tenshi said as she formed a large keystone. "They can slow my flight, but they can't do a thing about how fast I move this around." She jumped onto it. "I don't know what we'll be faced with, but it'll sure as hell be more than just a bunch of regular Shades, so I think having the option of going airborne is a good idea."

"All right, then. If you can beat that damn slowdown trick, go kick their asses, 'cause I'm sick of the damn things. We'll handle the Shades down here and fight our way through to Nue. Let's get with it."

* * *

><p>Yuugi grabbed a Shade and threw it into another with enough force that both Shades were knocked backwards, colliding with several other Shade and sending all of them off the platform. Then she grabbed another and, as she'd told Nue she could do way back when they'd first joined forces at the mausoleum, tore its arm off. Its weapon arm, and then Yuugi took position in front of one of the two bridges that connected to the platform and used the disarmed Shade as a club, knocking off the bridge every Shade that approached. "I'll hold here!"<p>

Nue took the other bridge. She set up several UFOs along it, forcing approaching Shades to run a gauntlet that, while not enough to kill the fairly magic-resistant creatures, was enough to weaken them to the point where Nue herself could finish them off as they reached her.

Levia spun around through the gathered Shades on the platform, her whip lashing through them as the tore her way through the mass of targets. There were quite a few of them, but Levia's fast, wide-area attacks took them out in good time, giving her a moment to notice the battle below. "Our allies are engaging the enemy. I see both Mokou and Kaguya."

Nue finished off a Shade with a vertical slash from her trident. "What about Tenshi?"

Just then, a Shade fell from above, slamming into the platform. "I believe she is above us," Levia said, looking up. "She is engaging the tengu-type Shades in the air. She appears to be riding on some manner of large stone."

Nue impaled a Shade on her trident. "...We really should've thought of that sooner."

"If she's found a loophole that lets her fight those things effectively," Yuugi said as she knocked another Shade off the bridge, "good. I hate those damn things." She threw off the side the Shade she'd been using as a club. "Okay, then. Nue, Levia, you hold off the ones still coming here. I'm gonna charge through and start clearing them off the walkways."

"Be careful," Nue said. "We don't know what else they may have in store for us."

"Who do you think you're talking to? I'll be fine."

"Yeah, I know. Go kick some ass."

* * *

><p>"Damn it," Mokou said, "where the hell are they all <em>coming<em> from? Even if everyone in the village was possessed, that's not anywhere _close_ to the numbers we're seeing."

Mokou and Kaguya had pressed from the lower platform onto the bridge, which was just wide enough to allow them to advance side-by-side. Or try to advance, at least; the Shades kept coming almost as fast as the pair could get rid of them, so their progress was slow.

"I don't know," Kaguya said as she cut through another Shade. "I'd say they were waiting outside the village, but we didn't see anything, and there aren't _that_ many places they could've been hiding."

"Yeah, but they couldn't' have gotten here so quickly if they weren't close."

"Well, somehow they found a way to get all these Shades here without us seeing them ahead of time. We can worry about how after the fight."

* * *

><p>"Well, I'd like to have some idea of how many they have left to throw at us, but I guess you're right. Come on, then. Let's take these things out."<p>

"I don't see any more coming our way," Nue said.

"Then let us follow Yuugi and join with the others," Levia said."

"You go. I'll stay here, keep an eye on that thing,"Nue said, indicating the strange, swirling mass of shadowy energy that had begun to form in the air near the platform. It was almost certainly part of the trap, but they hadn't been able to disrupt it in any way. "Odds are it's gonna turn into one of those monster Shade things we've been seeing, and when it does, I'll keep it busy while the rest of you finish off any remaining normal Shades, then you can join me and we'll take it out. In the meantime, I'll provide covering fire from here."

"Very well," Levia said. She charged through what few Shades remained on the bridge, making her way toward the walkways in front of the houses, where Yuugi was.

* * *

><p>Yuugi punched a Shade hard, sending it flying back through the ones behind it, some of which were knocked off the edge. The width of the walkways meant they could only approach her from a direction a couple at a time, leaving them lined up and particularly vulnerable to such strikes.<p>

Yuugi saw Mokou and Kaguya trying to make their way across the lower bridge. _Guess I'll head down there and meet up with them. _She charged, plowing right through the Shades in her way. Several got knocked off the side, but others didn't. But Yuugi ignored them as she kept moving. When she came to the ladder down to the lower walkway, she simply leapt down, landing in front of the bridge. She grabbed the nearest Shade and, as before, used it as a club, beating every Shade in her way off the bridge as she advanced. Before long, there weren't any more in the way, and Mokou and Kaguya ran up to her. "Well, that works,"Mokou said. "More've showed up behind you, though."

"Then we take them out."

"While moving to Nue and Levia," Kaguya said. "We thought to fight the Shade horde from two sides, but then that... whatever it is by the upper platform started forming, and I don't think we should be split up when it shows its purpose."

"Probably smart," Yuugi said. "Haven't seen anything like it before, but I'm guessing it's gonna be one of the huge monster Shades we've been running into, and those things can take a beating. So come on, let's get moving."

* * *

><p>Tenshi cut through one of the tengu-type Shades, then rode her keystone over to another and stabbed it through its 'head'. <em>Damn, how many of them are there?<em>

Tenshi leapt off the stone as a Shade flew at her, then came crashing back down, slamming the Shade into the stone. Another fired a spread of shots at her, and she flipped sideways, putting the stone facing the Shade and using it as a shield as she moved toward the attacker. She slammed into the Shade keystone-first and finished it off with a vertical slice.

Tenshi briefly glanced down at the swirling mass of energy that was forming below. _I don't know what the hell that is, but something tells me it'd be nice to have the tengu-types gone before it does whatever it's there to do._ More tengu-type Shades approached her. _Too bad the damn things just won't stop coming. Right, then. Guess I'll just have to keep taking them out._

Yuugi and the immortals soon came upon Levia, who was pushing through the Shades towards them. "You got things under control up there right now?" Yuugi said.

"No Shades remain on the platform," Levia said.

"Good. Where's Nue? Keeping an eye on that black thing?"

"Indeed," Levia said. "We should return to her. The mass has been gathering for some time now; I believe it will not be long before it shows its purpose."

"Meaning it'll turn into a big-ass thing we'll have to take out. Let's get over there, then."

* * *

><p>Nue observed the strange, swirling mass carefully. The substance composing it, whatever it was, had to be coming from somewhere, but so far Nue had seen no sign of where the mass was drawing it from. But then she did see something. A thin, barely-visible stream of the material. It wasn't a continuous stream, though; it came in bursts. But the bursts seemed to come in succession, as though they originated from sources right next to each other. With that in mind, Nue was able to catch sight of the next one farther from the mass, and the one after that farther away still, and then even farther after that. She followed the pattern to what had to be the source, only to find... <em>What the hell?<em>

The others arrived on the platform. "Most of the Shades are dead," Yuugi said. "Anything different here?"

"I figured out where this stuff is coming from," Nue said. "It's hard to see, but I've traced it back to the source. It... it's coming from the houses."

"The houses," Kaguya said. "You mean the people in them?"

"No," Levia said. "Not people. Not any longer. Like the others, they are Shades."

"Not all of them," Yuugi said. "Not the ones we heard when we got here being all gloomy about everything."

"But enough of them. That is why my sense has been disrupted here, because the Shades were within people throughout the entire town. I doubt I would have even felt anything faced with a single such person, but in numbers, the effect is undeniable."

The mass constricted without warning, swirling in on itself. "Heads up!" Nue said.

The mass expanded again, and shadowy energy burst outward, clearing to reveal a large black sphere with one single, large central eye, surrounded by black appendages that looked almost like giant black flower petals.

"Okay," Yuugi said, "what the hell is that thing?"

Other appendages shot out from the eye, penetrating several of the houses before withdrawing, somehow leaving the houses undamaged. Levia stumbled briefly. "That... creature," she said, "it just... there is no more life here."

"What?"

"Not all the people were Shades," Kaguya said. "Did that thing just kill the ones that aren't?"

"It took them. Took them within itself."

The appendages slammed down into the platform and quickly withdrew, leaving behind Shades.

"No," Yuugi said. "Did it turn them into Shades?"

"It can't be that simple," Nue said, "or the thing would do it to us." She quickly glanced up. "We've still got tengu-types in the air, so we'll have to hit the thing from here. Mokou, Kaguya, that's our job. Yuugi, Levia, you clear out the lesser Shades."

"But... they're..."

"Not people," Levia said. "They are people no longer. They are Shades. Wemust fight them." And she began to do just that.

"We can be horrified later," Nue said. "When you're in a fight, you save the emotions for later. You know that, Yuugi."

"I... I know."

"Then kick some ass," Mokou said, "while we work on the big one."

"...Right. Let's get this over with."

As Yuugi joined Levia in fighting the ordinary Shades, the other three turned their attention to the main enemy, firing on the central eye. The 'petals' spun around slowly, often passing over the eye. "Those petals are getting in the way," Mokou said. "I think they're blocking us completely."

"Looks that way," Nue said. "I don't think anything that hits them does any damage."

"Not that we seem to be doing much even when we do hit the eye."

"These things can take a lot, and Shades are fairly resistant to non-physical attacks to begin with. We're making progress, don't worry."

"As long as the thing doesn't figure out it can keep the petals over the eye."

"There must be some reason it can't," Kaguya said.

Yuugi and Levia finished off the lesser Shades, but the main enemy simply deposited more. Then it slowly moved closer, until the central eye was right at the platform. "Don't know why it's doing this," Nue said, "but we'll take the opportunity. Yuugi! Hit this thing!"

Yuugi turned from the normal Shades, ran up to the eye, and punched it hard. The blow did not have the effect of knocking the enemy back-for some reason, the force didn't move it at all-but the noise the creature made made it quite clear that the strike had an effect. Yuugi punched it again, and again, and then got knocked back as the creature fired a barrage of shots. Nue immediately sent out UFOs to clear the shots, but this time, that strategy didn't work very well. Some of the shots were black in color rather than the usual pink, and the black ones were not canceled out. "Watch it!" Nue said. "I can't cancel the black ones!"

Mokou cut through the shots approaching her with her sword, which caused them to dissipate as normal. "Weapon strikes still work. Or dodging. Or you can just shove Kaguya in front."

"Or this," Yuugi said. "Levia, trade places! I'll take those Shades; you clear the shots!"

"As ound plan," Levia said. Yuugi ran back at the regular Shades the creature was continuing to produce as Levia ran forward, lashing her whip in wide arks in front of the group to clear out the shots coming at them.

"With that sort of barrage," Kaguya said, "there's no getting close enough to strike it."

Nue stepped forward. "Unless you do this!" She threw her trident, which pierced through the shots and impaled the creature's eye. "That something you two can manage?" she asked as she called the trident back to her.

"I can't throw a sword like that," Mokou said, "and neither can Kaguya. Never saw a reason to develop that skill."

Nue threw her trident again. "It's not hard. Just use the magic in the weapon to guide it. Pretty simple to learn."

"I prefer throwing fire."

"Eh, fair enough."

The creature ceased its barrage of shots and pulled back from the platform, its eye beginning to glow. "Heads up," Nue said. "The thing's trying something else."

The creature fired a beam from its eye and swept it across the platform, but it moved slowly enough that there was plenty of time to leap over it. The Shades Yuugi was still dealing with completely ignored the beam, making no attempt to avoid it as it blasted them off the platform. "Huh," Yuugi said.

The beam stopped, and energy now gathered at the tips of the petals, flowing down towards the creature's main body opposite the eye, and the petals spread outwards and began quickly rotating. "That can't be good," Nue said.

Levia stepped out in front of the others. "Itisgath er ing energy. I ex pectastrongatt ack."

"Levia?" Yugi said. "Are you all right?"

"Theemotionswithin that cr eaturearei tense, butI amincontrol."

The creature abruptly spun around within the petals, so that the eye was in the back without the petals having moved at all. The rotation bought the gathered energy to the front as the petals began spinning rapidly, and then the creature fired a massive beam.

Levia, despite not having gathered energy in preparation, countered with an equal beam, the two attacks meeting between her and the creature. " .Ibelievetheeyeisexposed."

"I think it's still gathering energy to maintain the beam," Kaguya said. "How long can you hold out?"

"Longenough."

"Come on," Nue said, "let's move. I think we can get a good shot from the bridge up there, the one crossing to the chief's house. Let's go!"

The group left Levia matching the creature's attack and made their way quickly through the village. "Why does Levia's beam look so much like it's made of water?" Mokou wondered aloud as they moved.

"She's a water youkai," Yuugi said, "remember? A sea serpent or whatever."

"She's drawing on a great deal of her energy for that attack," Nue said. "Of course it'll look like what she's affiliated with. If you made that sort of beam, it'd look like fire even if there wasn't any actual fire in it."

"Oh," Mokou said. "Well, I guess I wouldn't know. I couldn't put out something like that in the first place. How is she _doing_ that? And keeping it up like she is?"

"She overpowered one of Utsuho's suns, remember?" Kaguya said. "Yes, Utsuho had just finished fighting us, but still, that's an impressive level of power."

"She'll last long enough," Nue said. "I hope. All right, this is the bridge. Careful; it looks like the eye's still spewing out shots."

Positioned at a height above Levia's platform but lower than the bridge, the creature's position was angled to aim the beam downwards at Levia, leaving the eye angled upwards toward the bridge. The group made their way to the middle of the bridge, careful to avoid the creature's shots. Rather than the constant spray of before, the shots were now coming in bursts a few seconds apart. Nue, Mokou, and Kaguya moved back and forth to avoid the shots as they fired on the eye, Yuugi adding what little fire she could.

"This is taking too long," Yuugi said eventually, "and we don't know how much longer Levia can last. We need a new strategy."

"There are still tengu-type Shades in the air," Nue said, "so we can't fly up to it. You got any other ideas?"

"Remember the ride in the Junk Heap? I'm gonna do that." Yuugi then leapt off the bridge without actually flying, timing her jump carefully so that she did it between shot bursts. She grabbed one of petals at its base next to the eye , allowing it to spin her around as it continued to rotate. She held on with one hand and started punching the eye with her other as the rotation carried her around it, timing her strikes for when the eye was on that side of her, and also so that her fist didn't get hit by any shot bursts. She was otherwise safe from the shots; they did spread out, but not nearly quickly enough to hit someone who was beside their source point.

It wasn't much longer before the creature let out another... whatever that noise it made was, and the petals stopped rotating as the beam ceased. Levia immediately ended her beam as well, and fell to her hands and knees. Yuugi flung herself upwards and ran over the creature, leaping off and landing next to Levia. "You all right?"

"Iwi... ... ... llre... join... youshort... ly."

"...All right," Yuugi said.

The creature passed under the bridge, repositioning itself off the far side of and a little above the lower platform, the one by the entrance to the Aerie, the center mass rotating again so that its eye was once more facing forward. "Goddamn it," Mokou said, "we beat the hell out of that thing! How can it still move?"

"These big ones are tough, but I think we're weakening it. Let's go."

The three of them jumped down off the bridge to the lower platform. The creature immediately fired it's lesser beam, sweeping it around the platform in an attempt to hit them, but again, they found it easy to avoid as they directed their own fire at the eye. Yuugi soon joined them, but again, she had little to add. And then a keystone slammed into the eye as Tenshi landed on the platform. "_Damn_, there were a lot of those things."

"About damn time," Yuugi said. She flew up to the creature, pulled the keystone from its eye, and proceeded to beat the shit out of it. Eventually, the creature blasted her away with a group of shots. It began to wobble in midair even as it gathered energy again.

Yuugi landed next to the others. "I think it's weakening."

"Yeah," Nue said, "but it's about to blast us again."

It was then that Levia joined the group on the platform, though she seemed unaware of them. "Hatredfearangergreedmaliceterrordespairragemalicedespairhatredangerfearmalicegreedhatered"

"What's wrong with her?" Tenshi asked.

"She's losing control," Nue said. "Something similar happened the first time she encountered Shades, but this looks like it's on an entirely different level."

Levia let out a scream and flew right for the creature. The creature fired its beam at her, but she wrapped herself in aquatic energy and pushed right through the beam, slamming into the eye. Then she grabbed the creature somehow-none of the others could tell what she took hold of it by-and, though nothing before had managed to budge the creature even slightly, she, somehow, spun the creature around and slammed in into the side of the cliff.

"...Just a thought," Yuugi said, "but we should probably get the hell out of the way."

All five of them took to the air, and not a moment too soon. Levia pulled the creature over her head and spun vertically, carrying it through the platform before it hit the cliff again. Then she threw it into the cliff on the other side, sending it crashing through bridges and walkways and everything else along the way. And then she wrapped herself in energy again and charged the thing, but this time she didn't stop upon hitting the eye. She kept up the force, somehow pushing her way inside the creature.

The others watched, silent, as the creature floated away from the wall, It jerked around a bit, then started to... sag, almost, as water leaked from the entire surface of the thing. And then it blew apart in a shower of water and whatever substance it was composed of, leaving only Levia, floating unsteadily where the creature had been moments before.

Yuugi moved in quickly, just a few moments before Levia's flight gave out and she started to fall. Yuugi caught her and rejoined the others as, who had landed in the mouth of the cave that served as the village entrance and was the only place left in the village to do so, and set Levia down. Levia took one shaky step forward before stumbling, and Yuugi quickly stepped in, supporting her as they and the others gazed out on the ruins of the Aerie.

[end bgm]

* * *

><p><em>I don't know how long we stood there, just staring out at what little was left. We were all stunned by what had happened.<em>

_The Aerie was gone. Everyone there had been taken in as part of the creature the Shades used against us, and the structure of the village had been demolished in Levia's final struggle against it. We all realized that the people had been dead as soon as it happened, and Levia, once she was again sure of her soundness of thought, confirmed that what had remained within the creature was in no way human. "Their emotions lingered, at least to an extent, but that is all. There was nothing that could be restored and as we fought, their lingering emotions faded, leaving only what came from the Shades."_

_I knew that, even though the entire population of the Aerie was gone, the tengu would survive. There were enough of them living in other places to ensure their kind continued. Much as the oni had, I knew the remaining tengu would gather together and find a place to make a new home. But, also like the oni, their kind had been badly hurt._

_Yuugi took the whole thing particularly hard, which was understandable, seeing as how her people had faced a similar fate, but from that experience she knew how to deal with such feelings. Levia shook it off fairly easily; her purpose had been destruction, so it does make sense that she could handle the emotional consequences of such things. Mokou, of course, was quite familiar with the witnessing of death, and certainly had developed methods to cope. Kaguya, too, knew death well, albeit only since her exile from the moon. And as for me? Well, I never outright destroyed any villages or the like, but in my past I have been the initial cause of chains of events leading so such things, and there was plenty of death and destruction I was directly responsible for. I know well how to deal mentally with atrocities, my own and those of others. I recognized the horror of what had been done here, but emotionally I was able to ignore it. Instead, my thoughts turned in a different direction._

_Why had the Shades done this? The threat that I, Yuugi and Levia posed to them was clear enough, but they needed me alive. The tablet I still kept in the nether was anchored to me; if I died, it would be lost there. And they needed it, that much was clear. They would, of course, be fine with eliminating my allies, but I had expected an attempt to capture me. But no such attempt took place. When the creature took in the remaining residents of the Aerie, I wondered if it would attempt to take me in as well, but no such thing happened, presumably because those it took it were no longer alive. I'm assuming that, for whatever reason, it could not take any of us in, or else it would at least have done so with the others to eliminate them; clearly, something limited its ability to do so. It seems that Shades have been amongst those of the Aerie for some time; perhaps that has something to do with it. Not everyone there had been possessed, but perhaps something had been done to them, with or without their knowing. Or maybe the taking in had to be specifically prepared for the specific people it was used on, and they simply did not have access to us. I don't know, and I doubt I ever will._

_No attempt to capture me was made, not by the creature or by any of the regular Shades, indicating an intent to kill me. But why, when they needed me alive? I voiced these thoughts, and it was Levia who provided the answer. "Why do you assume the Shades are unified in purpose?" she said, and it was a good point. And, in fact, something that should have occurred to me. But then, it was only a month ago that it became evident they had any capacity for actual thought at all; I suppose it's understandable that we'd overlook some of the implications of that, especially given that it was at that time that the Shadowlord showed itself, it clearly being a leader of the Shades. But Levia had only awakened recently, and only knew of the Shades after the signs of thought began to appear. She didn't have half a millennium of experience with them to overcome._

"_You're right, I think," I told her. "But... why? Why would these Shades specifically want me dead when the Shadowlord needs me alive?"_

"_I do not know. We may never know."_

"_What... what about the 'Sacrifice' fragment?" Yuugi said. "Did we... did we at least get what we're looking for?"_

_That was when I checked the frame, and the final fragment was indeed there. "Yes, it's here. I guess the Shades here had it. But why would they have it if they're not aligned with the Shadowlord?"_

"_Who knows?" Tenshi said. "You have the full key now, though, so you can head after the Shadowlord, right?"_

"_Yeah. I just wish I knew what it wanted. We'll be going in blind."_

"_I don't care," Yuugi said. "This needs to end. If we can't be sure what we'll be facing, then we just do what we did here, bring help with us."_

"_We need to be somewhere Lady Nightbug can reach us," Mokou said, "in case Utsuho shows herself. The lock is within the mausoleum, right? I doubt we could be easily reached there, and who knows what's beyond the lock? I'm sorry, but I think we'll have to pass."_

"_I'll come with you," Tenshi said._

"_This will be our final battle with the Shadowlord," Yuugi said, "maybe even the Shades as a whole because of that. I'm sure my people will help us. This has to end, and if there's a chance of making that happen, the oni will do everything we can to help."_

"_Good," I said, "because like you, I do not intend to lose."_

_We left soon after that. Mokou and Kaguya returned to the forest, and the rest of us headed back to the human village. We needed to rest up; the next day would require all our strength, as this was one battle we were not willing to lose._

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah. That happened.<strong>

**Anyways, we're nearing the end now. Only two chapters left. I apologize that this one took so long to get out, but the last two will probably also take a while, simply because I expect them to be tough to write. There will, after all, be a great deal of combat, as one might expect from the finale.**

**As for this chapter, well... yeah. The Aerie gets destroyed in NieR as well, if you were wondering. Oh, and also if you were wondering, the name of the giant eye ting is Wendy. Along with Hook, also fought in the Aerie, it's a reference to Peter Pan. All the boss names are references to fairy tales, actually. For those who are curious: the statues from the mausoleum are Hansel and Gretel; the creature that attacked the Human Village is the Knave of Hearts, an Alice in Wonderland reference; Geppetto and P-33 are references to Pinnochio; and Shahryar is the king from the Arabian Nights framing story whom Scheherazade is telling the stories to, with Roc being the giant bird from the Sinbad stories that are a part of the Arabian Nights collection.**

**Anyways, as I said, we're nearing the end of this story, but as you may have noticed, there are still quite a few unanswered questions to, well, answer. So as you may expect, things are about to get... interesting. Until then, any reviews are as appreciated as always.**


	20. Chapter 20: Identity

**Note: I will now once again urge you to _listen to the provided music._ We're at the last two chapters now, and the music I'm using here is the best I could find, both the tracks from NieR and the ones from other sources. So, for both this chapter and the next, _listen to them_. Trust me; you'll be glad you did.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20<br>**_Identity_

"...Every one of them?" Keine said, stunned by what she'd just heard. Nue, Yuugi, Levia, and Tenshi had returned to the village, and they'd immediately gone to see her.

"Yeah," Nue said. "Everyone in the village. Well, everyone who wasn't a Shade, at least."

"That's terrible. And they did this just to kill you?"

"It seems like it. The creature attacked us right away. It didn't show up until we'd killed all the regular Shades, though, so they might have seen it as something of a last resort."

"That doesn't take away from the horror of what they did."

"Damn right it doesn't," Yuugi said, "but time's running out for them. We have the complete key now, and we're going in tomorrow, and yes, Tenshi's coming with us. And I'm gonna get Suika to join us, too. She was gonna take a rotation on guard duty starting today, so I'd say she's here by now. You seen her?"

"I think she's at the tavern," Keine said. "What about Mokou and Kaguya? Will they be accompanying you?"

"No," Nue said. "They want to be able to react quickly if Utsuho shows herself. Heading to the Aerie was fine, but Lady Nightbug would have difficulty alerting them in the mausoleum or wherever's beyond the lock. Not really any bugs in there for her to use to alert them."

"Makes sense, I suppose," Keine said.

"We won't need them," Yuugi said. "Me, Nue, Levia, Tenshi, and Suika? There's nothing the Shadowlord has than can stop us."

"I hope you're right," Keine said. "I hope you're right."

* * *

><p>Mokou and Kaguya were just heading out for Eientei the next morning when the butterfly youkai Oricla arrived. "Your plans need to change."<p>

"...Hi to you, too," Mokou said.

"I apologize, but there is an urgent situation at the village."

"What's going on?" Kaguya asked."

"Shades. A massive force, more of them than have ever been seen before. They're gathering now. It is Lady Nightbug's belief that they mean to attack the village again."

"Damn," Mokou said. "Kaguya, let's go!"

"We're aiding them."

"Of course we are! Eientei can wait!"

"Yes, but what about Utsuho?"

"Lady Nightbug can contact us when we're at the village. Besides, Utsuho's interested in Shades now, remember? If there are as many of them as Oricla says, I'm thinking she's likely to be there, too. Now come on!"

* * *

><p>Nue was rather abruptly awakened by the sound of the bell. <em>Another Shade attack? Now?<em>

Nue rapidly dressed herself and headed quickly to the library. As before, Sekibanki was there, directing the villagers into the library and the schoolhouse. Yuugi and Levia were already there in front of the library when Nue arrived. "What's the situation?" she asked them as she landed.

"Bad," Yuugi said. "A hell of a lot more Shades than anyone's ever seen before, way more than the attack a month ago. They're all coming from the same direction this time, too-north, specifically. Still no tengu-types, but those aren't any more necessary for the enemy than they were a month ago."

"Any big ones?" Nue asked.

"None have yet been seen," Levia said, "but I expect one to show itself eventually."

It was at that time that Suika landed. "Okay, I hate to say this, but we could be in trouble. There's a ton of them, several times more than the last attack. Even with the other oni here right now, this isn't good."

"And we can't call for help from your village, can we?" Nue said. "Your people won't risk exposing their home to the Shades."

"If our village goes for a while without being attacked, some of us might come to help, but we can't count on that."

"Then we're on our own."

It was then that Tenshi landed. "Oh, I wouldn't say that."

"What do you mean?" Nue asked. "And where's Keine?"

"Our people aren't the ones who saw the Shades gathering. Someone else anticipated the attack and brought help. They're the ones who saw that the attack was coming right now and alerted us. Keine's with them right now. They'll be here shortly."

"And you're not going to tell me who they are, are you?"

"You've got something else to worry about," Tenshi said. "I mean, call me crazy, but I don't think the timing on this attack is a coincidence."

"The thought had occurred to me as well," Nue said.

"But why?" Yuugi said.

"That is the question, isn't it? But... something's been bothering me since yesterday. We saw at the Aerie that Shades can possess people. So why did they attack the village a month ago?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, the point of the attack was the tablet, right? They need it. That 'Noir' thing tried to force me to use it. That was the idea, to get the 'Noir' tablet close enough to me to attack my mind. But if Shades can possess people, the Shadowlord could've sent one in possessing someone, get Noir to me without anyone knowing anything was happening."

"Maybe it's not a quiet possession," Tenshi said. "Maybe it just can't be done too secretly."

"They did it in the Aerie," Nue pointed out. "And even if they can't do it quietly, they could've possessed some solitary youkai. There are still some of those around. And yeah, we wouldn't have recognized the youkai approaching the village, but we wouldn't have suspected it of anything, not with human-youkai relations as good as they are. And we wouldn't have seen any Shade, would we? No, they could've gotten to me secretly. And if Noir had struck while I was asleep, it would've been harder for me to resist it. I probably could have, but it would've been harder. And even if I'd been awake, I still would've been taken by surprise."

"What are you getting at?" Yuugi said.

"The Shadowlord retreated once I managed to resist Noir's mental attack. Why?"

"Because that's also when Keine beat it? Because we'd pretty much won at that point? So it took Byakuren to have leverage over you and got out of there?"

"Maybe," Nue said, "but... well, like I said, it's been bothering me. It may be nothing."

"It is not," Levia said. "You are right to suspect something, I think. The Shades have always felt wrong to me. But in the ones possessing people, this effect was... distorted. Muted. This should not have happened. My sense of the possessor and the possessed should be equal, and should be distinct from each other. Two minds, both in the same body but still two distinct minds. But in the Aerie, there was only the distorted Shade."

"The people, like, melted when the Shades came out," Yuugi said. "Yeah, that's probably not normal, is it?"

"We're missing something here," Nue said.

"Right," Suika said, "this is all fascinating, but don't you think maybe we should worry more about the, you know, huge-ass Shade army that's about to attack?"

"Actually," Keine said as she landed among the group, "I'm not so sure Nue should worry about it. I think she should take that key, open the lock, and go rescue Byakuren."

"Hold on, Keine," Nue said. "I want to go get her even more than you want me to, but this doesn't seem like a good time. As much as I wish it wasn't the case, you need me here."

"Think about it," Keine said. "They're attacking now. Right after you completed the key. Keeping the key here may not be a good idea."

"A point," Nue said, "but they wanted me to complete the key, remem...ber... wait. The key was an attempt to mind-control me. A poor, hastened attempt, but still an attempt. And we just realized yesterday that the Shades may not be all of one mind. What if... what if the Shadowlord doesn't want to attack yet? What if it did want to take the time for a proper mind-control but couldn't?"

"You think the Shadowlord isn't behind this?" Yuugi said.

"Not quite. More like it intended for the attack to happen, just not so soon. I think it simply couldn't convince the Shades to delay any longer. And maybe... Keine, Tenshi says it's our allies who say the Shades. How thoroughly did they scout the enemy?"

"Very," Keine said. "And if you're thinking what I think you are, then you're right. We saw no sign of the Shadowlord."

"If things are moving ahead of its schedule," Nue said, "then it may have other things it has to do to accomplish whatever goals it has. Which means that while the Shade force is here, the Shadowlord is still behind the lock."

"Could be a trick," Tenshi said. "They might have an ambush waiting for you."

"If there are so many Shades here, there can't be as many there."

"How do you know?" Yuugi said. "We have no idea how many there are. There could be a ton of them down there. Assuming the Shadowlord's even there."

"If they don't have a practical limit to their numbers," Keine said, "then it doesn't matter what we do. And as for the Shadowlord, yes, I do agree that we may be wrong. But I think we're probably right, and I say we take our chances. We can't let the Shadowlord complete whatever it might be doing; it's pretty likely, after all, that what it's doing won't be good for us."

"If you're sure you can handle things here without me, then yes, I'll definitely go. We all know that's what I want to do, anyways. I'm not leaving Byakuren in the Shadowlord's hands even one second longer than I have to. Just who showed up, anyways?"

As if on cue, a large number of fully-equipped kappa passed overhead. "They did," Keine said. "Queen Sechs realized the Shades were likely to attack soon and mobilized her people."

Sechs joined the group. "The wolves were led by a Shade," she said. "The Shades are our enemies as well as yours. So we came to join your fight."

"That was a lot more people than we had against the wolves," Yuugi remarked.

"Kotoro had to spend most of that night getting approval from the people. She didn't have time to ready many warriors after that. But since the wolves were led by a Shade, the approval still held. We spent the entire day readying our forces, then left this morning. We didn't think the attack would happen just yet, but we decided to allow for the possibility."

"A good thing, too," Keine said. "See, Nue? We can make do without you."

"If you're certain," Nue said, "then I'll leave the village to you. I don't know if going in alone is a good idea, though, and I doubt you can spare too many of us."

"Like hell you're going in alone," Yuugi said. "I'm going in with you."

"I shall accompany you as well," Levia said.

"Not you, Levia," Yuugi said. "Not after seeing what you can do in the Aerie yesterday. You'll do better here. Just pick a spot in the middle of the Shade force away from anyone else and go nuts."

"That sounds like a good idea," Keine said, "and I do agree that we probably can't spare too many people. Hell, even just losing the two of you might be a bad idea, even with the kappa. It's probably worth the risk with just the two of you, though, since it may be our best chance at taking out the Shadowlord."

"I'm still unsure if this will be enough," Nue said. "They've thrown some nasty stuff at us before. I don't know if Yuugi and I alone will be enough, not when we'll have the Shadowlord itself to deal with after whatever other Shades are there. We already saw that we don't want to fight it worn out. You bead it, Keine, but you were fresh. If Yuugi and I are worn out, we'll lose again."

This time it was Kaguya who landed, Mokou right behind her. "I think I have something to help with that."

"Okay," Suika said, "how are you all showing up at just the right point in the conversation? Are you people all timing your entrances or something?"

Kaguya ignored Suika's remark. She produced a small vial. "I found this in Eientei. It's a medicine Eirin made, the Grand Patriot's Elixir. It was made for the lunar rabbits, and enhances their abilities. It doesn't do that for anyone else, but it does retain its other effect of boosting the user's vitality. You'll be able to keep going for a lot longer. We have two doses, and there's two of you. It doesn't work on us-some component of the Hourai Elixir neutralizes it-but it should work for you."

"You didn't come here just to deliver this, I take it," Nue said.

"We were told about the attack," Mokou said. "Oricla-don't know if you've ever met her; she's a butterfly youkai who serves Lady Nightbug-passed word to us after Lady Nightbug noted the gathering Shades."

"So you're here to help," Keine said.

"I'm not willing to go with Nue, not when I need to be reachable if Utsuho shows up, but that's not a problem if I'm here. Besides, Utsuho's been interested in Shades lately, so I'm betting she'll make an appearance."

"You've lost twice. Do you have a strategy this time?"

Mokou nodded. "Hard and fast. We may not be able to overpower her or outlast her, but we're immortal; we can take anything she throws at us."

"The brute force approach," Yuugi said, "or at least a variation of it. I like it."

Mokou turned back to Keine. "We'll help you against the Shades, but if Utsuho shows up, we're heading right for her."

"You aren't worried about being worn out when she shows up?"

"You know how long we can keep going for, Keine. If we were expecting a drawn-out battle with Utsuho, yeah, that might be an issue, but we've tried the endurance approach before. It didn't work."

"As long as you're sure," Keine said.

"We are."

"Good. Nue, Yuugi, I think we'll be alright here."

"I certainly hope so," Nue said. "Kaguya, when should we take the elixir?"

"If you're heading in right away, take it now."

"Got it." Nue did so, and then Yuugi took hers. "All right, then. I guess we'll be off."

"Good luck, you two," Keine said as the two of them flew off. "Good luck, and come back victorious."

* * *

><p>The mausoleum was no different than before, and it didn't take long for Nue and Yuugi to make their way through it. "Here we are," Nue said once they'd reached the final chamber. "You ready for this?"<p>

"Of course I am."

"Then let's do it." Nue produced the key and held it up towards the seal. There was no flashy effect or anything; both key and lock both simply vanished, revealing a normal-looking door. But what they saw when they passed through it was completely unexpected.

"What the hell?" Yuugi said. "Are we back above ground? And outside?"

It certainly looked that way, but upon closer inspection, something was wrong. "The sun's not in the right place," Nue said. "And this isn't natural light."

"So it's some kind of illusion?"

"That would be the obvious answer, but why? What purpose would that serve?"

"No idea. Maybe we'll find out somewhere inside."

The two of them were standing in a fairly fancy-looking courtyard, completely walled in. Nothing beyond them was visible from the ground, and when Nue rose to look over them, she soon simply stopped ascending. "We can't go above the walls," she said as she returned to the ground.

"Then we just go forward."

As the two of them approached the door at the far end of the courtyard, they walked past a fountain with what looked like a bird perched on it, and as they did, the 'bird' spoke. "To whom does the true voice speak? To whom does... I ask you."

"The hell is this?" Yuugi said.

"There's magic on the door," Nue said. "I'm guessing we're looking at another security measure. We have to give the right response before the door opens."

"To hell with that." Yuugi walked up to the door and tore it free. There was a bright flash, and then the two of them were back at the courtyard's entrance. "Oh, son of a bitch."

The door as intact again, and as they approached it, the bird gave the same prompt. "So now what?" Yuugi said. "We've gotta figure out what the hell the right response is?"

"Or you could just break through the wall beside the door. The magic is limited to the door."

"Really?" Yuugi walked up to the door again and smashed an opening in the wall beside it. "Huh. Wasn't expecting such an amateur mistake."

"Unless the spell was deliberately only on the door."

"You really think that?"

"When it comes to Shades," Nue said, "I don't know what the hell to expect anymore."

"Good point."

When they passed through the opening, they found themselves inside again, in a corridor. "Well, this looks fancy," Yuugi said. "Almost like it's... something fancy."

"Thank you for that valuable insight."

They passed through the corridor, emerging into a large room. "Okay," Yuugi said, "I know I'm repeating myself here, but: the hell is this?"

"It looks like a... ballroom, almost."

"Well, it does have dancing... whatever the hell those are."

Yuugi was referring to the shadowy figures dancing around the room in pairs. They seemed not to notice Nue and Yuugi, but as soon as the two of them stepped forward, this changed. The figured twisted, filled out, each pair turning into an oni-type Shade.

"Well then," Yuugi said. "I think we've found the welcoming committee."

"Looks like a couple dozen of them. This shouldn't take too long. Let's get to work."

* * *

><p>The kappa soldiers took position on the plains north of the village as the Shades approached, the oni standing just behind them. Keine, Tenshi, Mokou, Kaguya, and Levia were there, too, Suika, Sechs, and Kotoro currently standing with them. "Anyone seen Mamizou yet?" Keine asked.<p>

A series of 'no's answered. "That's not good," Suika said. "She's supposed to scout an enemy force, right? You think they got her?"

"Unlikely. She knows to stay in the air, and none of the kappa scouts saw any tengu-types. I'd have told her we didn't need her to scout, but she was already gone when I got to the tavern. Left to scout as soon as the bell rang, apparently."

"We don't have the luxury of worrying about her right now," Sechs said, "as unpleasant a fact as that may be."

"True," Keine said. "In both regards."

"Yeah," Tenshi said. "We have more important things to worry about." She turned to face the gathered forces. "All right, the 'plan' is simple. The oni will charge the enemy while the kappa provide covering fire. You all have your marks, right?" The oni all raised their hands, showing the symbols on their skin. "Good."

"Those marks are standard issue," Kotoro said. "They're attuned to the precise magical frequency of our weapons. Each one is good for about a day, and will completely nullify any stray shots that may hit you."

"Hold it," one of the oni said. "I ain't no expert on magic or anything, but don't spell frequencies change each time?"

"Yes. Even the same spell cast by the same person will have a slightly different frequency. This variation is minor, but it's far beyond a frequency mark's tolerance. It's simply not possible to eliminate that variation, which is why marks are fairly useless. No person's casting is consistent enough for a mark to be effective. But machinery is different. We're not releasing our energy ourselves; we're channeling our energy into our weapons, and the weapons are doing the rest. And their quite minimal frequency variation is within a mark's tolerances." It was, all said, quite useful. The only weakness of the system was that an enemy that was able to discover the weapons' frequency could make its own marks, but that wasn't an issue against Shades, and even if it had been, the weapons were designed with adjustable frequency for that exact reason, and making new marks was almost as easy.

"Thanks to the marks," Tenshi continued, "you don't have to worry about getting hit by an ally. You'll just charge in and kick some ass. And don't try to keep Shades from getting past you; there are too many of them. The kappa have close-combat weapons, too, and there are far more of them than there are of you oni. They'll worry about holding the line; you just take out as many Shades as you possibly can. Get ready, all of you, because the battle's going to start momentarily." She turned back to her own group. "All right, individual roles. Sechs, Kotoro, you'll stay with the other kappa, of course. Suika, you're on giant-Shade duty. If one of those big ones shows up, you just beat the shit out of it until it goes down; no matter how much the thing can take, it'll go down eventually, and you can fight those things far better than the rest of us. Whenever there aren't any of the things, stay giant and just step on things. And stay away from the front so you don't step on any of us. Levia, you do what Yuugi suggested: find a spot with no nearby allies and let loose. Keine and I will remain with the kappa; Kaguya and Mokou, you two charge in with the oni."

"As long as you realize we're pulling out if Utsuho shows up," Mokou said.

"We know. All right, everyone, I hope you're ready, because here they come. Kappa, take aim. Oni? Charge!"

* * *

><p>[BGM=watch?v=rZzMyxDgdQ4]

Oni-type Shades were tougher than other Shades, but they were still far weaker than Nue, and nowhere close to an _actual_ oni, much less Yuugi, one of the strongest. As such, it didn't take long for the pair to clear the room of Shades.

"Done," Yuugi said as she finished off the last Shade. "Let's move on."

The large door at the far end of the ballroom suddenly swung open, dumping into the room dozens of the small, spherical Shades Nue and Yuugi had previously encountered during the battle with Hook. But rather than attack, the Shades rolled into a single clump, pushing against each other until they began to merge, to meld together, combining into a single mass that shaped itself into the form of a large boar.

"...That's interesting," Yuugi said.

"Combining," Nue said. "You think this is how all the big ones we've been seeing were made?"

"Didn't look like what we saw when that eye-thing formed, but then, the Aerie was weird in every other way, too. Other than that, yeah, it could be. If nothing else, it would explain why we never see them until they're right on top of us. Gotta be limits to it, though, or else we'd see far more of the things, especially during major attacks."

"Agreed. Heads up; here it comes!"

The boar charged. Nue and Yuugi leapt aside in separate directions, and it passed between them, skidding to a stop. It turned quickly towards Nue and charged again. Nue, who was close to the wall this time, evaded again, and the boar was unable to stop before crashing into the wall, stumbling backwards in a daze. Nue took advantage of its daze and slashed through it several times with her trident as Yuugi ran up and punched it.

The boar recovered from its daze and immediately leapt into the air, Nue and Yuugi diving out of the way as it came crashing back down. Nue moved in and slashed through it again, backing off when it swung its tusks at her. Yuugi moved in from behind it, but it kicked her, sending her into the wall. She rebounded right away, flying over it as it took a swing at Nue again and slamming down on top of it. The boar again leapt into the air, Yuugi pushing off of it just before it slammed into the ceiling. It fell to the ground, once again dazed, and Nue and Yuugi took advantage of the opportunity to strike.

The boar recovered quickly and spun around, swinging its tusks around in a circle. Both managed to evade, but the boar immediately charged, and though Nue dove to the side, she wasn't quite quick enough. She avoided the tusks, but took an impact from the creature's shoulder that knocked her aside. The boar did crash into a wall again, but this time it was up before Nue or Yuugi got to it.

The battle continued for some time, but eventually the boar collapsed. Neither youkai let her guard down. "It'll get back up, huh?" Yuugi said.

Nue nodded. "Most likely."

The boar did indeed stand again a few seconds later, and immediately resumed its attack. It charged, Nue and Yuugi evaded, waiting for it to hit a wall before moving in to attack, it recovered and countered, Nue and Yuugi evaded, it struck at them in some manner, they kept evading until it charged again, they attacked while it was stunned, and on and on until the boar collapsed again. But again it got up, and again the battle continued, until it fell again.

"Damn it," Nue said as the boar got up a third time, "this is a waste of time! Why won't you just die already?"

"Eager to move on, are we?" Yuugi said.

"Of course I am! Byakuren's here somewhere, and I'm not letting these things keep her one second more that I have to. I want to get to her, and I want to do it _now_!"

"I understand. You go on ahead; I'll take care of this thing."

"You'll-you're sure?"

"What," Yuugi said with a chuckle, "you don't think I can take this thing by myself?"

"No," Nue said. "I know you can. Just be careful, all right?"

"Careful? Me? Like hell! But I'll be fine. I'm a tough one; you know that. You go find Byakuren and the Shadowlord; I'll catch up to you once I've taken care of this thing."

"...Thanks," Nue said, and ran through the door further in, throwing it shut behind her.

* * *

><p>Nue found several human-type Shades waiting in the next corridor, and charged at them without hesitation. "Get the hell out of my way!"<p>

The first Shade came at her from directly ahead; she speared it with her trident and tossed it into the wall. The next one she cut through, blasted to the ground, and impaled through the head. The third took a swing at her midsection; she blocked its strike, flung it into the ceiling, then threw her trident through its chest, calling her weapon back and letting the Shade fall to the ground, where she sashed through it one more time. Then the next Shade came, and the next, and the next, and before long they were all dead.

Nue paused only for a brief moment before hurrying down the corridor, towards where the Shadowlord had to be. Towards where Byakuren had to be.

* * *

><p>Yuugi avoided the next charge, but this time the boar was able to skid to a halt before running into the wall. "Well, well, well. I guess you're finally starting to learn. Good; I'd hate for this to be boring."<p>

The boar charged again, but this time, instead of evading to the side, Yuugi waited until the last moment and jumped over it, grabbing it by the snout as she did. She channeled its momentum into a vertical spin, flipping it around over herself and slamming it into the ground.

Yuugi moved away as the boar leapt into the air and came crashing down. "Yeah, that's not gonna work. Surely that's not all you've got?" The boar turned to face her, ready to charge. "Well, come on, then. Show me what you've got!"

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>Tenshi and Keine drew their swords. "Heads up; they're about to hit us!"<p>

The oni were among the Shades and doing significant damage, but as they'd known, there were too many to be held off by the oni. The kappa, more numerous than the oni and equipped with all manner of combat gear, were a different story.

"Configure for close combat!" Kotoro said. Many of the kappa returned their guns to their packs, though not all of them. A few kappa, the ones designated as 'snipers', kept theirs out. Sechs herself, being quite possibly the best shot of them all, was one of them, which was why Kotoro was giving the orders instead of her.

Tenshi thrust her sword into the ground, and pillars of earth rose underneath each of the snipers, lifting them up above the others and allowing them to fire over the heads of the other kappa, as well as any Shades that would otherwise be between them and their targets.

The other kappa drew a number of different close-range weapons as mechanisms withdrew from their packs and equipped on them various pieces of equipment. "Ready!" Kotoro said, and the kappa moved forward, adjusting their spacing to eliminate the gaps left by both the snipers and a few other kappa, who remained back to act as a reserve and to eliminate any Shades that might get past the main line.

"Here they come," Kotoro said. "Engage!"

* * *

><p>Nue passed through a corridor, then another corridor, then ascended a staircase that spiraled around the wall of a cylindrical room, then through another corridor, then through a large room and into another corridor, all with only minimal resistance from scattered small groups of Shades. The next room, however, was different.<p>

The chamber was wider than the 'ballroom' where Yuugi was still fighting the boar, though not quite as long. There was a raised area at the far end of the room, beyond which a clear wall looked out on a large stone bridge that spanned the gap between the chamber and whatever the next area was. A desk sat in the center of the raised area, but it was the person seated behind the desk that drew Nue's attention as she entered the chamber, the door closing behind her. "...Mamizou?"

"Welcome, Nue," Mamizou-or whoever it really was-said as she stood and moved out from behind the desk.

"What... who are you?"

"Not believing our eyes, are we?"

Nue didn't want to. This _couldn't_ be Mamizou, and yet... it couldn't be a fake, either. There was no enchantment, no illusion, nothing that could produce a false image; not even Mamizou herself could produce an illusion that would fool Nue or elude her detection. And the form was too perfect for it to be a more mundane disguise. It wasn't the result of shapeshifting, either, she knew; no shapeshifter would be able to fool one of Nue's ability. All of which meant that this _had_ to be Mamizou. _Wait, no. Her body, but not her mind._ "You're not Mamizou. You're just a Shade that's possessing her."

"From your perspective, yes, ever since the attack a month ago," Mamizou-or, rather, the Shade within her-said, "although I'll have you know this is a proper 'possession', not a failed one like you witnessed in the place called the Aerie. Do not expect me to lose my physical coherence as the people there did."

"You probably shouldn't have told me that," Nue said with a chuckle, "because now I know the real Mamizou isn't dead. She's still in there, which means that all I have to do is drive you out." _Sorry, Mamizou. This'll hurt, but I have to do it._

The quickest and simplest way to force out a possessor was to inflict physical pain on the possessed. The possessor, being the one in control of the body, was the one who felt the pain, which disrupted its hold, aiding the possessed in driving it out. This only worked if the possessed had a strong enough mind to fight the possessor (although not strong enough to win on his/her own, of course, or else the possession wouldn't have succeeded in the first place), but Nue knew Mamizou did. In fact, the mystery was how anything could've successfully possessed Mamizou in the first place; Nue knew she herself was the most able in Gensokyo to resist possessions and such, but if she'd had to pick someone for second place, it would have been Mamizou, though Byakuren would be just behind her.

[BGM=/watch?v=5a8MdtYHv7k]

Mamizou leapt down from the raised area. "As I thought, you fail to see the truth."

"I don't care about any 'truth', and it won't matter to you, either, because I'm about to drive you out of my friend."

"I will not allow you to separate me from my form," Mamizou said.

"I don't intend to give you any say in the matter."

"Then I suppose I have no choice. Although I knew that already. As much as I don't want to do this, I have no choice. You and I were fairly even in our friendly matches; it seems it's time to find out who wins in a real fight."

Mamizou leapt to one side of the chamber, sending a seemingly-impossible wall of her animal-shaped shots at Nue. But Nue knew Mamizou's tricks. Mamizou wasn't achieving that level of fire. Only some of the shots were real; the others were illusory. And Nue was very good at spotting illusions.

Nue evaded the real shots by allowing the false ones to pass harmlessly through her. Move fire was oncoming, but Nue could tell which ones were real and which were fake, and weaved through the shots as she formed green UFOs to return fire. Mamizou evaded their blasts easily, but doing so took some attention away from her own fire, making it easier for Nue to get through it and close in.

Nue swung her trident, but Mamizou leapt away, hitting Nue with a beam as she did. Nue rolled out of the beam and threw her trident at an empty spot just below Mamizou, or rather, at the illusion of empty space below the illusion of Mamizou. The illusions faded as Mamizou deflected the strike with a sword.

_What the hell is this?_ Nue thought as the two continued their exchange of fire. _A possessor can use the abilities of the possessed, but doesn't have the skill of the possessed. The two minds remain separate; skill isn't gained. But there's no way anyone could get this skilled with illusions in just a month. Even a satori reading the mind of an expert would probably need longer than that, and there aren't any of those left anyways. So how...?_

_This isn't an ordinary possession,_ she concluded, _that's for sure. Don't know what it _is_, but then, everything about the Shades is weird. Definitely some sort of possession, though, so I should be able to help get that thing out of Mamizou. Right, then. Time to close in._

When it came to driving out a possessor, magical attacks were fairly ineffective; they just didn't produce the same level of disruption that physical harm did. So Nue ran in slashed with her trident. But Mamizou's sword was not in the position it appeared to be; disguised by an illusion, Mamizou had it right in the path of Nue's strike.

Mamizou came in with a slash of her own, but Nue knew better than to take it at face value. The sword wasn't where it appeared to be; the sight of it was an illusion. Nue had to think quickly, but she did just that, and had her trident in the right place in time to block the real strike. Mamizou leapt back and fired a number of beams at different angles and swept them around the room, but again, many of them were illusion. Nue identified and ignored the fakes, focusing on the real ones. She slipped through a pair, ducked under one, jumped over another, and then quickly altered her course as she realized that the seemingly empty space in front of her was actually another beam, one hidden by Mamizou's illusions. She continued weaving through the beams as she made her way to Mamizou. But then she jumped into the air, ignoring what she knew was an illusion to strike at the hidden form of the real Mamizou above her.

Nue closed in and struck, Mamizou backed away and opened fire, Nue picked out the real shots and evaded them while returning fire, Mamizou concealed herself and came in, Nue spotted the illusion and evaded the attack, Mamizou jumped up and fired downwards, Nue recognized the illusion and allowed it to pass harmlessly through her while the concealed true fire harmlessly impacted the floor around her, Nue blasted Mamizou, Mamizou evaded, on and on and on, and no matter what tricks Mamizou tried, Nue saw through them.

Eventually, Mamizou realized her magic/illusion combination wasn't working and came in with a sword strike. Nue raised her trident slightly to the side to block the actual strike, then thrust it at Mamizou. But she was delayed for the instant she needed to tell if it was really Mamizou or just an illusion, and that gave Mamizou enough time to react, dodging to the side and striking again. Mamizuo struck, Nue blocked and countered, Mamizou ducked under and struck, Nue parried, Mamizou jumped and struck from overhead, Nue blocked, Mamizou struck, Nue dodged, Nue struck. Dodge, parry, strike, dodge, counter, dodge, trike, block, strike, dodge, strike, counter, parry, strike, block, strike, counter, dodge, strike, block, strike, parry, counter, strike, dodge, counter, block, counter, parry, strike, parry, counter, strike, the two of them holding even. Nue had the advantage of skill as well as that of physical strength, but for every block, every evasion, every strike, she needed that brief instant to tell truth from illusion, and that slowed her down just enough for Mamizou to keep up with her. So eventually she used a different tactic. She moved to block a strike, but she was just barely off from its concealed true location, and Mamizou's blade cut into her arm. Which kept her from reacting fast enough as Nue flung the bottom of the trident up, catching Mamizou in the knee.

Nue didn't give Mamizou time to recover. She punched Mamizou in the face, then grabbed her, pushing her to the ground with Nue atop her. Nue punched her in the gut, then in the face, then grabber her head and slammed it into the ground, hitting her again and again until she cried out in a strange way, as though two voices were trying to speak through the same mouth. Which is exactly what was happening; the possessor's hold was weakening, and the real Mamizou's struggles against it were painful for both. But the real Mamizou didn't let up, and neither did Nue, hitting her again and again and again until a black substance was explosively expelled from her body, pooling on the far side of the room as it begun to reform itself. Nue threw her trident straight into the middle of the mass, then dashed over, took hold of her trident, and cut through the mass over and over and over and over and over until it was no more.

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>Sechs took aim and fired. Then she picked another target and fired again. Then she paused as she saw the massive creature rise up seemingly from nowhere. <em>Their main warrior deigns to show itself at last.<em> "A giant Shade is approaching," she said, the charm in her ear carrying her words to all who bore such charms.

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to miss," Tenshi said. And it was, being just as large as the one seen during the attack a month ago. It's form was different, though; rather than the humanoid shape of that one, this one was spider-like, though it only had five 'legs' instead of eight. The 'legs' were evenly spaced around a central torso, ending in something that seemed neither hand nor foot, but instead a combination of the two.

"You know the plan," Keine said. "Leave it to Suika. She's approaching it now."

Suika was indeed approaching the creature; she had no communication charm, as in her giant state, it would be unable to properly position itself and thus not possible for her to hear, but the creature's presence was obvious, and Suika knew her role in the battle. She ran across the battlefield, crushing dozens of Shades in the process, and charged right into the thing.

"Suika has engaged her target," Sechs said. "I will continue to provide covering fire for our forces."

"You don't need to say it," Tenshi said. "You only need to do it. So do it! Come on, people! Keep this up and we might just win this thing! Let's kick some ass!"

* * *

><p>"Are you all right?" Nue asked.<p>

"I... think so." Mamizou slowly and unsteadily got to her feet, stumbling toward Nue. "Nue. I..."

Nue approached her longtime friend. "Don't worry about it. Not your fault. Though I _am_ curious how that Shade managed to pull off possessing you."

"I... think it happened... when I was knocked unconscious... in the attack a month ago. But... it might have succeeded anyways. I couldn't fight it off, Nue. Couldn't reclaim myself. It was strong, but... it was also..."

Nue grabbed Mamizou as the latter stumbled again and helped steady her. "You sure you're okay?"

"I will be. You did give me quite a beating, but... I don't think you hurt anything important. I've got a lot of pain, but no injuries, not as far as I can tell."

"That's good. My arm's fine, too, even if a human's wouldn't be. Anyways, you were saying something about your possessor?"

"Yeah. It was strong, but there was... something else. Something... well, I don't really know, but... I think it _knew_ me, somehow. Not like you do; different. I... don't really know what it was, but... Nue, something was off about it. I can't tell what, but... there's something about all this we don't know."

"Tell me about it," Nue said. "Do you... know why that Shade possessed you?"

"Its mind was silent towards mine, but I did have... at least some awareness of its actions. I think... it was there to observe you, to... ensure the Shadowlord's plan for you succeeded."

"The brainwashing," Nue said. "Your possessor was there to observe it, and to adjust it as needed. That's... very clever of the Shadowlord. Even I might fail to resist influence if it was being adjusted to me on a daily basis. I think I'd have managed it, but it's no guarantee. But they abandoned that plan, tried to accelerate the process. Do you know why?"

Mamizou separated from Nue, standing on her own. "I'm afraid not. My awareness was... very limited. More so than it should have been, I think. It felt like... well, I'm not really sure, but... it's like whatever was in me was trying to... I don't know, really-consume, I guess?. Well, to do _something _to my mind. Like it meant to eliminate my own identity from within my mind, to not just control my body but to actually remove and replace me within my own head."

"That's impossible," Nue said. "A mind can be imprisoned, weakened, destroyed, but not _removed_. Even a completely destroyed mind is still _there_."

"I know, but..."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't be the only time Shades have done something crazy like that. Hell, the ones possessing people in the Aerie had the bodies melt away or something, which also isn't how anything works."

"Yeah." Mamizou paused for a moment. "You're... going on ahead, right?"

"Of course. Byakuren's up ahead. And so, I assume, is the Shadowlord."

"Yes, I think so. But..." She indicated the back of the chamber. The clear wall was now, somehow, completely gone, allowing access to the bridge beyond, which was now occupied by a large number of Shades.

"Huh," Nue said. "Well, I guess more opposition is to be expected, and given the ceiling effect at the entrance, I doubt it'll be possible to go over them. May not be able to go around them, either, and even if I can, I don't want to leave them and risk them interfering against the Shadowlord. That means going through them. Time to..." She trailed off as Mamizou picked her sword up from the ground and moved to stand beside Nue. "Mamizou, what are... I don't think that's a good idea in your condition."

"I told you," Mamizou said, "there's a lot of pain but not much injury. I may not do nearly as well as you against Shades, not with how they seem completely unaware of any illusions, and I know I wouldn't be of any use against the Shadowlord, but I can at least help you reach it. Besides, this isn't the only fight right now. I know the village is under attack. Everyone's fighting, and I'm not about to be the only one who doesn't give it everything I've got. So I'm fighting, too."

[BGM=/watch?v=cYEZE8udzwQ]

"...All right." She readied her trident. "Ready?"

"Ready."

"Then let's do this!"

They charged, Nue on the right and Mamizou on the left. They pushed their way into the horde of Shades, knocking the creatures to the side and sending the farthest ones plummeting off the bridge. "I guess the drop is as long as it looks," Nue said. "Mamizou, hit them off the side!"

Mamizou blocked a Shade's strike and kicked it, backing it up to the side of the ridge before sending it over with another hit. One came at her from behind, but she stepped to the side, then grabbed it and threw it past her and over the edge. Nue impaled a Shade on her trident, then flung it to the side into another, sending both over the edge. She and Mamizou jumped back as several Shades swung at them, then ran back in, continuing their push forward as the battle continued and knowing as they did that the others were giving it everything they had as well.

And everyone else was doing exactly that. Tenshi crushed several Shades with a large keystone, then dropped another bunch into a fissure that she then slammed shut. Then she charged through to Keine's position. "You holding up?"

"I am," Keine said as the two positioned themselves back-to-back. "You?"

"Of course I am."

"Good." Keine cut through multiple Shades in front of her with a wide slash, then leapt into the air and plunged her sword into one's head. She jumped off, cutting through another one vertically as she returned to the ground. Tenshi speared on with her sword and flung it into several others, then cut through them while they were down.

Two of the oni were side-by-side, charging through and beating any Shades in their path into the ground. Another had a Shade in each hand as she spun around before tossing them, sending them barreling through large numbers of Shades. She ran forward, grabbed the first two knocked-over Shades, and slammed them down on top of the next two. Another oni had hold of two Shades and was using them as clubs, while another was ripping up large sections of earth and slamming them overhead into the ground, crushing any Shades in either area.

Sechs took aim at a Shade that was approaching one of the oni from behind and fired. Magic may have been somewhat ineffective against Shades, but the kappa's guns could still be very effictive, and the snipers fired with excellent skill and accuracy. The other kappa, those holding the line in close combat, were employing a variety of close-range weapons designed for use against Shades.

One kappa punched an oncoming Shade with an extending metal fist. Another swung around what looked like a jumbled mass of bladed whips, but by using magic to control each individual lash, she was able to tear through Shades with outstanding efficiency. Another spun in a circle, arcing her modified chakrams, attached by strong, thin cords connected to the gloves she wore, through the Shades around her. Another had a metal ball on the end of a chain, and as she swung it into a Shade, multiple spines extended, impaling the Shade.

Mokou enveloped herself in flames and charged through a group of Shades, then jumped into the air and released the flames in a downward blast that sent Shades flying. Kaguya caught one of these Shades, threw it down into another, then speared through both with her sword.

The giant Shade swung at Suika with one of its 'legs', but Suika grabbed the leg, flinging the creature over her head and into the ground. Then she leapt into the air and came crashing down on top of it. Another leg caught her on the back, knocking her off as the creature righted itself. Then Suika ran in, ducked under the next leg it swung at her, and delivered an uppercut that sent it into the air. She jumped up after it and hit it back down into the ground.

Levia gathered water around her and charged forward, crashing through the Shades in front of her in a large area before she burst it apart into shards of aquatic energy that tore through the Shades around her. She leapt into the air, gathered more water to her, and came crashing back down, pushing the water into the ground. The ground erupted beneath her, a shower of earth and water that crashed through anything in its path.

Yuugi's fight, too, continued. The boar had learned not to charge her while she was near a wall, only doing so when it had enough room to stop if she evaded. Now it charged her again, and she moved to evade, but then abruptly reversed course, grabbing its leg and channeling its momentum into a circular swing before flinging it into the wall. She ran in and managed a couple hits before it recovered. It swung its tusks around in a circle, but this time Yuugi moved closer, allowing the side of a tusk to slam into her. She grabbed onto the tusk with one hand, letting the boar spin her around as she punched it in the face with the other. It jumped into the air swinging upwards in an attempt to slam her into the ceiling, but she swung down, bringing her legs up as she released her grip and kicking the boar in its chest. She hit the ground and rolled away as the boar came slamming down, readying herself for the next charge.

Tenshi ducked under a Shade's strike and cut through it vertically. A fire-cloaked Mokou slammed a Shade into the ground, burning it as she cut through it. The chakram-wielding kappa threw her weapons forward, swinging them wide in separate arcs and cutting through the Shades in front of her. Yuugi leapt over the boar as it charged, kicking it into the floor as it passed under her. Levia channeled water into her whip, extending its reach as she lashed through the Shades around her.

Nue and Mamizou kept pushing, cutting down or knocking off the bridge every Shade in their path until eventually, finally, there were none left, and the pair came to the large doorway at the end of the bridge.

[end BGM]

Mamizou collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily. "Yeah, I... think that's all I have left. You'll have to... go on alone. I'll just... wait here."

'All right," Nue said. "Yuugi should be along at some point; we came in here together, but she stayed back to deal with a particularly resilient enemy."

"I... see. What'll she think... when she sees me?"

"Don't know, but she knows Shades can possess people. She shouldn't have reason to doubt you when you tell her what happened."

"I suppose... that's true. Good... luck, Nue. And be... careful."

"I will," Nue said. She pulled the door open and stepped through, looking back at her friend as she did. "And, Mamizou? Thanks."

The door swung closed behind her, and Nue continued forward.

* * *

><p>Kaguya moved through the Shade forces, expertly cutting through them. Mokou came barreling through, flames shaped into blades that followed the course of her sword as she cut through her own targets. Then she felt something and stopped, kicking a Shade off of her sword as she turned towards Kaguya, who likewise turned to face her. <em>You feel it, too.<em>

And Kaguya did. She wasn't as familiar with its source as Mokou was, but she had felt it before, and the sense was unmistakable. She knew what it meant, this sensation, and as she turned towards Mokou, the two spoke simultaneously.

"She's here."

* * *

><p>Nue passed through the empty corridor. Another lay through the door at the end, and a third one after it. But then Nue came into a large chamber, far larger even than the ballroom. The room was ornate in construction but mostly empty. The only thing in the room as in the far-left corner, where there was, of all things, a bed. Nue moved in, and soon saw the person lying in the bed.<p>

Byakuren.

And next to the bed, kneeled down next to Byakuren, was the unmistakable figure of the Shadowlord.

The Shadowlord rose to its feet. "You have come," it said as it approached Nue in the middle of the room.

_It can speak?_ "Of course I have. You knew I would. Wanted me to, even. Your brainwashing attempt failed, but you still have your other hold over me. You know my feelings for Byakuren; your 'Noir' thing saw that in my head, didn't it? You took her to force my cooperation."

"Your conclusions are understandable," the Shadowlord said, "but only partially correct. I do indeed need you here, need the completed tablet you possess. The 'Weiss' key, to match the 'Noir' key. But you have no intention of using it properly. I know why you came, Nue Houjuu, know that's you're here for Byakuren. But that is not why I took her form."

_'Took her form'? What the hell is that supposed to mean. And why the _hell_ am I getting this sense of familiarity from this thing? _She hadn't had the chance for a good look at the Shadowlord during their first meeting, but now that she did, there was something about it, something... familiar, something... _Focus, Nue_. "You know what? I don't care why you took her. I'm taking her back."

"No," the Shadowlord said. "I have returned her to herself, and you will not be separating her again."

_Is it saying she's... _"You had her possessed. You put a Shade in her."

"The Shade came from her. I returned it. This is not how things were meant to play out, you know. You weren't supposed to develop your own minds. When minds and bodies were separate, you were supposed to be unthinking shells, acting under the direction of the minds as you always had."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the reason Shades came into being. A disease, one that came to be called White Chlorination Syndrome."

Nue recognized the name from when Ari had mentioned it. _Was Ari right, then? Is that connected to the Shades?_

The Shadowlord continued. "White Chlorination Syndrome began in the underground, and cases were isolated. Isolated, but always fatal. Victims invariably either died or lost their minds and became wild until they were killed, their bodies then turning to salt, a happening from which came the disease's name. But then a treatment was found. The disease infects the body but preys on the mind, and it was the Komeiji sisters who discovered the way to defeat it. With the right preparation, Koishi's power over the subconscious allowed her to pull a mind free from its body, giving it a physical presence immune to the disease. And since the disease preyed on the mind, there was nothing it could do in a mindless body. Body and mind could be kept separate until the disease died, at which time they were reunited.

"This worked well when the cases were isolated. But then the infection spread, and extremely quickly. Within days, not only everyone in the underground but also almost everyone above was infected. Far too many to separate one by one. That is when Koishi came to me. Through me, or more accurately my connection to the divine, Koishi was able to expand her reach and pull the minds of everyone free at the same time. But we had no time and no way to test this, and there were unforeseen side-effects. Not to mention that there was no time to tell people. By the time it was known that everyone was infected, there was only a day or two before the effects would take hold. We had to act immediately. So we did."

Nue was only half-listening at this point. _Connection to the divine. You're connected to the- no. You can't be. She would never do what you've done, never be what you are._

The Shadowlord paused, seeing the expression on Nue's face. "Beginning to realize, I see."

She was. The form, the divine connection, _you can't be her, she's dead, you can't be, you can't be_, but at the same time she knew, somehow _knew_ it was true. That this thing before her, the monster responsible for widespread suffering and countless deaths, was _something happened this isn't her something changed her into this_ but she couldn't avoid the truth _it can't be true but it has to be_ the Shadowlord was... was...

The name passed through Nue's lips almost against her will.

"Shou?"


	21. Chapter 21: Truth (1)

**Chapter 21  
><strong>_Truth_

"_She's her_e."

"I'll go in first," Mokou said.

"Oh, no," Kaguya said. "We're doing this together, remember?"

"Yeah, but if it's just me, she won't attack immediately. I can stall her, keep her attention on me while you circle around and come in from behind., begin the fight with a sneak attack. _Then_ we'll fight her together."

"Ah. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.. Very well, then. Let's do this."

* * *

><p>The unusual gathering of Shades had drawn Shizuha Aki down to the base of the mountain, but it seemed their target was the human village. Still, there had been some near the mountain, so she'd taken the time to eliminate them. But she had no intention of approaching the village. Even if she saved them, the people there would reject her as they always had. And besides, they seemed to be doing just fine without her.<p>

Shizuha turned to start back up the mountain, then stopped. Very few could have sensed it from such a distance, but Shizuha's sensitivity to this particular aspect was high even for a god. _This feeling. It's..._

There was no mistaking that sensation; she knew it all too well. It was her enemy. Her one chance at gaining the respect of the people, and she had failed. Nothing could stop it. But this... this was different. Localized. Within a single person.

She had failed before, failed to stop the taint of this person's power. And she had no doubt that whoever it was, this individual's power far exceeded hers. But... _I failed to stop your power's taint, whoever you are, but even if your power is beyond mine, you can still be killed._ There was no guarantee this person's death would stop the taint, but there was a chance. And even if Shizuha knew she would probably fail to kill this person in the first place, she also knew that she was going to try. _I'm not going to lay down and die. If the world's going out anyways, I, at least, will do so fighting._

* * *

><p>Mokou intercepted Utsuho as the hell crow neared the battle. "Utsuho."<p>

"Mokou," Utsuho said, coming to a halt in midair. "Are you going to fight me again?"

"You know I can't let you do what you want to do."

"Why can't you understand, Mokou? If anyone should, it's you."

"Because I only hunted the one who wronged me," Mokou said. "I attacked only her. Only the one who was guilty. You want to kill people who are innocent."

"Satori was innocent, and Kaguya killed her! And you think I should just leave her be?"

"I fought her for centuries because she got my father killed. If all you wanted was to kill her, then fine. We could have fought her together. But you're not satisfied with that, weren't even satisfied with keeping her trapped in a star. You've taken this far enough, Utsuho. Please don't take it any farther. Please. Don't do this."

"I can't stop. Satori wouldn't want me to stop."

"Do you really think that? You knew Satori far longer than I did, and even I know she would never want something like this. Are you really going to forget that just because you saw some vengeful spirit? Even if it was Satori's spirit, it wouldn't have been Satori. It would've been a twisted remnant of one part of her, capable only of hatred. The real Satori would never want you to listen to it, even if it did come from her."

"...Are you going to fight me again, Mokou?"

Mokou readied her sword. "If you won't stop this? Yes. I want the old you back, and if the only way to make that happen is to use force, then so be it."

"You know you won't win. I still don't want to hurt you, Mokou. Please don't make me."

"I'm not making you do anything, Utsuho. Okuu. What happens now is your choice."

"You know what I choose. I'm not backing down, Mokou. I'm not-"

[BGM=/watch?v=qrxg4ohQQN0&index=60&list=PLA9933EA052CBD53C]

Kaguya struck.

Kaguya came in unseen from behind Utsuho, smacking the hell raven upside the head with the flat of her blade. Mokou immediately charged in, but her strike was blocked by Utsuho's control rod. Utsuho threw a condensed ball of nuclear energy at Mokou, but Mokou raised her arm, taking the hit on her off-hand. The attack mangled the hand, left it useless, but Mokou didn't need it right now, and it was already healing anyways.

Utsuho shot upwards, leaving balls of energy in her wake. The two immortals pursued, weaving skillfully around the spheres of energy. Utsuho spun around and fired a beam at them, but they dodged to opposite sides and came in at Utsuho. Mokou flew in foot-first, aiming a kick at Utsuho's head. Utsuho caught the kick, but Mokou kept coming, wrenching around in a move that bent her led at an impossible angle, tearing muscle and bone apart as she flung her other foot into Utsuho's head. Then Kaguya came in, and Utsuho released Mokou's foot and ducked underneath the attack.

Utsuho fired a blast at Kaguya, but Kaguya evaded to the side and came in with a swing at Utsuho's head. Utsuho moved to block, but Kaguya adjusted her strike in anticipation of this, slashing into Utsuho's arm just below the control rod. She paid for the hit with a blast from point-blank range, but she survived it.

Mokou struck, Utsuho dodged, Kaguya struck, Utsuho evaded and struck, Mokou took the hit as a distraction while Kaguya struck, Utsuho pulled away and fired the the two of them, they charged right through the blasts and attacked, strike, block, strike, evade, counter, take the hit, strike, block, strike, dodge, counter, strike, take the hit, strike, evade and counter, block, Mokou and Kaguya giving it everything they had, desperately trying to beat Utsuho down before she could overwhelm them.

Mokou and Kaguya came in at the same time. Utsuho blasted Mokou, but Mokou just took the hit and kept coming. Utsuho blocked Kaguya's strike, but Mokou slammed into her, and Kaguya took the opportunity for another strike. And then something slammed into all three of them, sending them all crashing to the ground.

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>Sechs saw the flashes of the battle with Utsuho out of the corner of her eye, but she knew she couldn't worry about that. <em>Aim... fire. Aim... fire. Aim... fire.<em> And... "Backup team, Shade forces threatening to break through at Horaka and Takeru's position. Move to assist."

"Moving now." The reply came as the reserve force moved to assist.

"Acknowledged," Sechs said, and returned her attention to her targets. _Aim... fire. Aim... fire. Aim... fire._

An oni named Ekira slammed two Shades together, threw them to the ground, and slammed a third Shade down on top of them. She picked her next target and punched it as hard as she could, knocking it through several other Shades. The next one she carried into the air and smashed into the ground.

A kappa soldier named Artai cut down the Shade in front of her with her twin blades. She turned quickly to the fallen kappa beside her, killed by the Shade she'd just taken out. "This is Artai. My partner's down. Requesting reinforcement from nearest available backup unit."

"Confirmed," Kotoro's voice came in reply. "Ineki, move to reinforce."

"Acknowledged," Ineki said. "Moving to new position."

Artai moved between several Shades, doing everything she could to hold them back by herself. But this left her little time to actually finish them off, and as more kept coming, she knew she could only hold them for so long. Fortunately, Ineki got there quickly, tearing through the weakened Shades with a bizarre multi-bladed weapon she controlled through a combination of electronic and magical means. "In position."

"Good to see you," Artai said. "Heads up! More on the way!"

"Of course there are. Let's do this."

* * *

><p>Mokou picked herself up off the ground and found herself facing one of the last people she'd expected to see here. "Shizuha?"<p>

"Mokou," Shizuha said. "I must apologize. I did not know others were locked in battle with her. I assure you that I am no enemy of yours; our goals are the same."

Mokou looked around quickly, spotting Kaguya and Utsuho on the ground a ways behind her, then returned her attention to Shizuha. "What do you mean?"

"The raven that is your opponent. I felt her presence. It is a presence I had never felt before, but I nonetheless knew it immediately. Perhaps you cannot sense it, but she is the one responsible for the taint killing the land."

That one caught Mokou off-guard. "She's- what?"

"I failed to remove the taint, but I know its sense. It comes from the raven's power."

_Is she saying Utsuho's the one killing the land? Is she crazy? There's no way- wait. Kaguya lost awareness briefly at the moment the Radiance happened. That's when she killed Satori. If something similar happened to Utsuho, and she lost control while unaware..._ "Radiation. Nuclear radiation. That's what's killing the land?"

"There is no doubt."

"It's... nuclear radiation... but..." _That's not quite how radiation works, I don't think, is it? Although I guess everything else's been screwed up since the Radiance, so why couldn't it be, too? Wait, but if Utsuho's the source, then is Shizuha here to..._ "Why are you here, Shizuha?"

"I failed to stop the taint. Now I have another chance. It is the raven's power; killing her may stop it."

Mokou called her sword to her. "You mean to kill Utsuho."

"Of course. Are you not attempting the same?"

"Why the hell would I kill her. I'm doing everything I can to stop her _without_ killing her."

"Killing her is the only chance to stop the taint."

"Keeping her alive is the only chance to stop it. If it's her power, she may be able to undo it."

"It cannot be removed, cannot be undone. All that can be done is to stop its spread. Are you choosing, then, not to aid me in this?"

"Help you kill Utsuho? Hell no!"

Shizuha sighed. "Unfortunate. However, your battle with her has worn her down considerably. I was expecting to find myself completely outmatched, but in her current state, defeating her should be simple."

"And you think I'm just going to let you kill her?"

"You, too, are weakened. You will not emerge victorious against me. If you try to fight me, I will have to kill you as well."

"You think that'll stop me? I'm immortal; I'll resurrect."

"But not quickly enough. Killing you will give me the time I need."

"Then I'll just have to make sure I don't die."

"Why do you defend the raven? Her power is what's killing the land. She is a danger to the world, and clearly she is your enemy, so why do you defend her?"

"Because I love her," Mokou said. "What she's been trying to do is wrong, but I still love her. And I'm not going to let you kill her."

[BGM=/watch?v=RS6FPBwR58Q&list=PLF3sECcU-eWy1gxwlz8XyO2Q7MdLyiK6d&index=37]

A scythe appeared in Shizuha's hands as she assumed a ready stance. "Very well, then. You leave me no choice."

"It's you who leaves me no choice," Mokou said.

They charged. Mokou came in from the side, but Shizuha blocked her strike and swung her scythe down vertically. Mokou sidestepped and retaliated, but Shizuha righted her weapon quickly and blocked the strike. Mokou leapt over Shizuha's next attack and cut down from above, but again, Shizuha got her scythe into position quickly.

A scythe wasn't nearly as suited to this type of fight as a sword, and yet Shizuha matched Mokou blow-for-blow. Strike, block, strike, parry, strike, evade, counter, block, strike. Mokou was more skilled, but Shizuha had the advantage of strength and power. Strike, strike, parry, counter, evade, counter, strike, block, strike. And more importantly, Shizuha was fresh, whereas Mokou had just finished a punishing battle with Utsuho, before which she was fighting Shades. Strike evade, strike, block, strike, parry, strike, counter, strike; Mokou was tiring, and Shizuha was not. Strike, block, strike, block, strike, evade, strike, counter, parry, strike, block, strike. And Shizuha pressed her advantages, leaving Mokou on the defensive.

Utsuho was awakened by the sounds of battle. She pushed herself up to a kneeling position and looked up to see Mokou fighting... someone she'd never seen before. "Unyu?"

"Shizuha Aki, a god of autumn."

Utsuho knew that voice and immediately aimed the Third Leg at the speaker... and then lowered it upon realizing that Kaguya wasn't even sparing a glance, her gaze fixed on the battle. "A scythe, hmm? A tool of the harvest, but also a symbol of death. An appropriate weapon for her."

Utsuho turned her attention to the battle as well, her confusion and curiosity giving pause to her hatred. "Why's a god here? And why's she fighting Mokou?"

"She's here for you. I came to in time to hear the end of their conversation. Shizuha thinks you're the reason the land is becoming barren, that your power is what's doing it, and she's here to kill you."

"But then why is Mokou fighting her?"

"Because Mokou never wanted to kill you, only to stop you."

"Unyu?"

"She's fighting Shizuha to protect you, Utsuho, because she still loves you. She doesn't want anyone else to die, and that includes you. And you know something?" Kaguya called her sword, which flew into her hand. "I agree with her."

Mokou ducked under the next strike and retaliated with a blast of fire, but Shizuha easily deflected the blast. She fired back, her energy taking the form of a whirlwind of leaves that slammed into Mokou, knocking the immortal to the ground. Mokou sprung back up before Shizuha could capitalize on this and launched a stream of fire, but Shizuha countered with a stream of her own energy, and hers was stronger, pushing Mokou's energy back. So Mokou stepped aside, avoiding Shizuha's beam and charging in to strike with her sword, but Shizuha brought her scythe up in time. And then Kaguya blasted her from behind, sending her flying into the side of a boulder.

Shizuha recovered quickly and faced the pair. "So you're united in this."

"Utsuho is our problem," Kaguya said. "You can just stay out of it."

"She is all of Gensokyo's problem."

"No. She's not. And if you insist on attacking her, then you'll have to get by me as well as Mokou."

"Then I shall." Shizuha swung her scythe, creating an arc of energy that flew at the two immortals. They leapt over it, and Mokou sent a blast of fire at Shizuha. Shizuha deflected the flames, but then Kaguya landed a direct hit with a blast of her own. Shizuha recovered quickly and charged, Kaguya blocking her strike. Mokou came in with her own strike, but Shizuha moved quickly enough to block it as well. Shizua leapt away, sending a blast of energy at the pair, which they evaded.

Utsuho watched, confused, trying to make sense of Mokou's actions. Part of her wanted to take advantage of Mokou and Kaguya's distraction and continue on her way, but the rest of her objected. Mokou had gone from fighting her to protecting her. Did that mean Mokou actually did still care about her? And if so, why was Mokou trying to stop her? Didn't Mokou care about what Satori wanted? Or... was Mokou right? Had it just been a remnant of anger she'd seen that day, a vengeful spirit that was merely a distortion of one aspect of Satori's emotions? But no, she was sure it had been Satori. Mokou might think it wasn't, though. Or was she right? And what if...

Utsuho gave her head a shake. Only one thing mattered right now. She had a choice to make. And it didn't take her long to make it.

Shizuha struck, and Mokou blocked, but Shizuha's attack had been a feint. Mokou acted quickly enough to block the real strike, but that, too, turned out to be a feint, as Shizuha simply hit her in the chest with an energy blast, knocking her back and to the ground. Shizuha moved in quickly to take advantage of this, only to take a direct hit from a massive blast of energy, knocking her down and sending her skidding across the ground.

Utsuho pointed the Third Leg at Shizuha as the goddess picked herself up. "You leave her alone."

"You," Shizuha said. "You are the one killing this world. Your life ends here."

"Oh, really?" Mokou said as she and Kaguya came up on either side of Utsuho. "Do you really think you can take all three of us?"

"I will do whatever I must," Shizuha said, but she made no move to attack.

"Or you can stand down," Kaguya said, "and save us all some trouble."

"You can't win this," Mokou said. "Which is good, since Utsuho may be the only one who can reverse the contamination. So how about you just head back to the mountain, and we'll consider this little dispute over?"

The standoff continued for another minute or two, and then Shizuha turned and left without a word.

Mokou turned to face Utsuho. "Utsuho, I... thank you."

"You fought her to protect me, right?" Utsuho said. "I should be the one saying 'thank you.'

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit," Kaguya said. "I'll go check on how the battle with the Shades is going."

Kaguya flew off, leaving Mokou and Utsuho by themselves. "Utsuho," Mokou said, "I... are you still going to... am I still going to have to..."

"I don't want you to," Utsuho said. "I never wanted to hurt you. Mokou, I... I'm sorry."

They embraced. "It's okay," Mokou said. "It's okay."

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>It didn't take Kaguya long to determine the state of the battle. The Shades were still coming, but their numbers were starting to thin. <em>Looks like we're making progress. It's not over yet, though, and they'd probably appreciate it if we could get back in there and give them a hand.<em>

She returned to Mokou and Utsuho, who seemed to have reconciled at least somewhat. If nothing else, they at least weren't fighting, and they didn't seem to be angry with each other. Although it remained to be seen how Utsuho would react to her.

Utsuho stepped forward as Kaguya landed, but Mokou stuck out an arm to hold her back. "Easy, Okuu. I know how you feel, trust me, but this isn't the time or the place. Kaguya what's the situation?"

"We're winning," Kaguya said, "but I'm sure they'd appreciate it if we could rejoin the fight."

"Yeah," Mokou said. She turned to Utsuho. "Utsuho, those Shades are attacking the human village. Kaguya and I were helping to protect it, and I, at least, mean to return to the battle. Will... will you come with me?"

"Is _she_ coming?" Utsuho said.

Kaguya nodded. "Is that... going to be a problem?" Mokou asked.

There was silence for a few seconds, but then... "I won't attack her. For now."

"All right, then. Let's do this."

* * *

><p>Sechs was the first to notice. "Three individuals joining the battle. Mokou and Kaguya are returning to the fight, and they have another with them."<p>

"Is it Utsuho?" Keine asked.

"I believe that is correct. Note that she is not acting hostile towards Mokou and Kaguya."

"They pulled it off, then." Keine sighed in relief. "Okay, keep watch on them."

"They just landed amidst the Shades, away from any others. Mokou and Kaguya are acting as defense for Utsuho, who appears to be preparing somethi-what the-?!"

The blast was massive, an enormous beam that Utsuho swept slowly in an arc in front of her, cutting a swath through the Shade horde. "Holy shit," someone said, "what _was_ that? It just wiped those Shades out."

"Despite their resistance to magic, too," Tenshi said. "I'd heard Utsuho was powerful, but _damn_."

Kotoro was just as shocked as most of the others, but she pushed this aside. "Okay, change of plans. No need to signal Suika-she should keep fighting that big one-but everyone else, fall back to the defensive line. If this 'Utsuho' can wipe Shades out so easily, clear out and let her do exactly that. We'll hold the line and pick off stragglers."

"Sounds good," Tenshi said. "All right, then, let's finish this."


	22. Chapter 21: Truth (2)

Yuugi slammed the boar into the ceiling, then tossed it down into the floor. And this time it finally stayed down, its body fading away a few seconds later.

_Finally,_ Yuugi thought as she returned to the ground. _That took too long._

Satisfied that no new enemy was emerging, Yuugi left the ballroom behind her, heading further in.

* * *

><p>[BGM=watch?v=0IEbfDtDaUc]

"_Shou?"_

"Indeed," the Shadowlord said. "I suppose you thought me dead. You had no reason to think otherwise; after all, I'm sure I'm hardly the only one whose body was never found. And I couldn't show myself to anyone, for obvious reasons."

"No," Nue said, "that doesn't make any sense. Our bodies and minds aren't separate, and Shades are unthinking creatures. Hell, the first thing they did when they first appeared was attack us!"

"Not entirely accurate. You see, that's the first of those complications I mentioned. All previous cases of separation were done with subjects who knew what was going to happen, but as I said before, there was no time to inform anyone. We were, of course, expecting disorientation, confusion, but I'm afraid we didn't appreciate the extent to which it would go. The resulting chaos was due in part to this, and in part to the second complication.

"The separation process pulls the mind from the body, leaving the form an empty, mindless shell. But that was when the process was done to one person at a time. When we attempted to perform it on all of Gensokyo at once, this didn't happen as expected. The minds were pulled from the bodies, yes, but not completely. Something remained in the body. An... echo, perhaps, or a shadow, or some other thing. Unfortunately, the only ones who would have been able to say for sure died. The separation process itself is what killed Koishi; the strain was too much for her to withstand. As for Satori, well, that brings me to the third complication.

"When the separation hit, it triggered reactions from some people's powers. With Satori, it resulted in a mental resonance of sorts, a wave that caused mental disruption within its radius. And though she was mostly alone at the time, coincidence was our enemy, for there was one with her, and the effect on Kaguya Houraisan's mind was to drive her into a rage. A rage in which she killed Satori.

"And that wasn't the only reaction the separation triggered. Most, fortunately, were harmless, but in Utsuho Reiuji, the results were disastrous. In a reaction amplified by the fact that she is both mortal and divine, her power leaked out from her without her knowing it. And it has been slowly killing the land ever since."

"So now you claim it was your actions that caused the land's decay?"

"Not 'claim'. Admit. Though it is not an unsolvable problem. But I digress. Returning to the second complication: whatever it is that remained after the separation was significant enough to act as a complete mind, and additionally was unaware that any separation had occurred. So when the Gestalts-the separated minds, what you call Shades-appeared, this fact combined with the Gestalts' disorientation, and the result was chaos."

"No," Nue said. "That's not why the Shades attacked us. They're not what you claim they are. You're just trying to confuse me, make me question myself. The Shades are mindless. I've seen proof of that too many times to doubt it. And another hole in your 'explanation': there are far, far, _far_ too many Shades for them to have come from the people of Gensokyo."

"Which brings me to the fourth and fifth complications. The fourth is that the separation wave had a far greater reach than expected. It didn't penetrate to the outside world, but it did reach Higan and the Netherworld. The souls there lack physical form, but the wave turned them into Gestalts regardless. And it wrenched them from their rest, stranding them in the world of the living. Thanks to the clever use of spacial-manipulation magic, along with numerous other varieties, we were able to accommodate their numbers, keep them from flooding Gensokyo and crowding out all other life. That being said, these spaces are not completely detached; it is possible for Gestalts to leave, and sometimes Gestalts wandering mindlessly will just happen to wander out into Gensokyo. Which brings me to what caused their mindlessness."

"We turn now to the fifth and most serious complication: relapse. The initial cases of separation were performed individually, and the Gestalts were completely stable. But that stability did not carry over to the large-scale separation, and the result was relapse. The mindless Shades you have seen are relapse cases, Gestalts whose minds have degraded to the point where they are no longer capable of true thought. The time it takes differs between individual Gestalts, but comes to them all eventually. I am the only exception; the youkai/Shade duality of my being protects me from the instability. And not only that; I am, in fact, the key to the entire situation. The Gestalts are unstable because their forms lack a... well, a certain essential component. Without it, their forms cannot stabilize, and since the Gestalt's form is a manifestation of the mind, it is the mind that suffers from it. I am sheltered from relapse because I do not lack this component. In fact, as a result of my combined nature, I actually produce it. By providing Gestalts with it, I can stave off relapse."

"Really," Nue said. "Okay, then. If that's true, then why would these 'relapses' still be happening?"

"Because I do not produce it in limitless amounts. Thus, I find myself with the sad duty of choosing whose minds remain whole. Fortunately, however, the choice is easy. Those minds pulled from the afterlife need not be preserved. When we release the wave that will return Gestalts to their bodies, those souls will be pulled back to the afterlife."

"You're sacrificing them," Nue said.

"In effect, yes. I may not want to, but sadly, there is no choice. Those Gestalts whose forms still live are the priority. For their sake, the dead minds must be sacrificed. Fortunately, this necessity is at an end. White Chlorination Syndrome has been no more for some time, but the reunion of body and mind has been delayed. The normal method will not work here; thanks to the differences between these massed Gestalts and the original ones produced from individual separations, it would not work even were Koishi to still be alive. Of course, her death would present a problem anyways, as her power is needed, but fortunately, we did foresee and prepare for that possibility."

Nue figured it out right away. "The tablet. That's why you need the tablet. It's part of your backup plan."

"Indeed. The two tablets, Wiess and Noir. White and black. Conscious and subconscious. One made from the power of Satori, and one from Koishi. When united, they will provide the mental energy needed to return the Gestalts to their forms. We have not been able to do so, however, as a result of the aforementioned differences. It took us quite some time to find a solution. But now we are ready."

"So you lured me here to take the tablet from me. That's why you took Byakuren."

"You're mistaken," Shou said. "I took her for my own reasons. Our attack had failed; the tablet remained out of our hands. But we can perform individual recombinations without both tablets. I took Byakuren's form so that I could at least restore her to herself."

"Why?"

"For the same reason you're here for her form. Because I love her."

"What?"

"Yes. I-"

"No," Nue said. She formed her trident and pointed it at Sh-_no, damn it, that's not Shou!_-at the Shadowlord. "I don't care what you think. You say you're the real people? That we're just copies, shadows, echoes of our own minds? Our own souls? No. I don't know what the hell you did, but you're not Shou. And the Shade you put in Byakuren isn't her. I don't know what manner of creatures you Shades are, but you are not us. You claim to love Byakuren? You're wrong. You don't love her. You can't love her. You're the twisted echoes, not us. And I'm not about to let you take us from ourselves. Take Byakuren from herself. I'm here to save her, and you know what? You are in. My. Way."

"So be it," the Shadowlord said, a spear appearing in its hand. "I was hoping you would understand, though I knew the odds were low. If you will not submit, then I will break you until you can no longer resist my control."

"Like hell you will!"

Nue charged. The Shadowlord met her charge, thrusting its spear forward as Nue did the same with her trident. Nue quickly adjusted her strike, bringing her trident down and catching the spear between its tines. The Shadowlord leapt back, forming a set of shadowy spears in an arc over its head and firing them in sequence. Nue jumped to the side to evade, then threw her trident at the Shadowlord. The Shadowlord caught it with her spear, only to take a hit from the energy blast Nue followed up with and get knocked back a ways. It recovered quickly and charged Nue, who met its charge. But just before they met, the Shadowlord somehow passed into the floor, a circular shadow the only mark left. The circle moved to directly beneath Nue, who realized what was happening and dove to the side just as the Shadowlord burst forth. It shot into the air, then bounced off the ceiling and right at Nue. Nue ducked aside and thrust her trident forward, but she's slightly misjudged the Shadowlord's trajectory, and while her own strike did pierce through the Shadowlord's chest, the Shadowlord's spear pierced into Nue's arm.

The Shadowlord pulled its spear free and leapt back; as with ordinary Shades, the strike had little apparent effect. Nue made use of the brief break to focus on her wound, forcing it closed. Being able to do so was one of the benefits of having control over her form, although it was not without its downsides. Though removing injuries in this manner was quite useful in the short term, eventually her form would have to return to normal; shapeshifting could only temporarily remove injuries and not actually heal them, and doing so carried a fairly decent chance of worsening the injury in the long run, a chance that was greater the more severe the injury. But that didn't matter to Nue, not right now. All that mattered right now was winning this battle.

Nue charged in and struck, the Shadowlord evaded and struck, Nue blocked and jumped back while firing a blast, the Shadowlord moved in while firing its shadowy spears, Nue met them with her own shots, the Shadowlord struck, Nue ducked to the side and attacked with a slash that caught the Shadowlord on the arm, the Shadowlord struck, Nue evaded, strike, evade, strike, counter, strike, hit, counter, block, strike, parry, strike, counter, counter, evade, strike, block, strike, evade, strike, counter, parry, fire, evade, strike, hit, fire, counter, parry, strike.

Nue jumped back after taking a hit, closing the gash in her leg, then charged back in. She thrust her trident forward, but the Shadowlord evaded and struck with a thrust of her own. Nue let the strike hit her in the arm, using the opportunity to cut through the Shadowlord with a vertical slash before jumping back and closing her new wound.

Nue began another charge, but then a voice rang out across the chamber. "Stop."

[end BGM]

* * *

><p>Yuugi noted the signs of battle in the chamber as she passed through and crossed the bridge, But when she saw who was sitting clumped against the door on the other side, she came to a halt. <em>What the- is that <em>Mamizou_? What the hell is this?_

Yuugi was ready for an attack, but Mamizou-_if that's really Mamizou_-only looked up as the oni approached "Yuugi. Nue told me you were here."

Yuugi left a little distance between herself and Mamizou as a precaution. "Mamizou. You look like someone beat the hell out of you."

"Beat a Shade out of me, actually. I was possessed-properly, not the... what you saw in the Aerie. It made me fight Nue, but Nue beat it out of me."

"You can do that?"

"If the one possessed has a strong enough mind, it's one of the most reliable methods. Physical pain breaks the possessor's hold, allowing one to force it out. Of course, it does leave you a little worse for wear. I still had enough in me to help Nue fight her way across the bridge, but that was it."

"I see."

"Yuugi," Mamizou said, "I... have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

"Beating a possessor out is effective, but also a bit... sloppy. Forcing a possessor out like that has a tendency to leave... remnants. Pieces of its mind, of its memories. I've... been sorting through them since Nue moved on, and... Yuugi, I don't like what I'm learning, and you won't either, but... I think you need to hear it."

"How do I know this isn't a trick, that you're not just stalling me, keeping me from helping Nue?"

"I... suppose you don't," Mamizou said. "You don't know. But what do you _think_?"

Yuugi paused for a moment. _I guess Shades would be less likely to try and stall me and more likely to attack me anyways, and there's been no attack yet. _"I... suppose I think you're telling the truth."

"Then will you listen? This is... important."

"Yes, but make it quick, because I'm not standing here for very long."

"All right," Mamizou said. "Yuugi, the Shades... we've recently seen them acting smarter. That's because they're not mindless. I don't quite know what they are, and I don't know where they came from-the memories are fragmentary, after all-but I know they aren't mindless. They have minds, at least some of them. Most have lost theirs. They... the Shades are minds with physical forms, but they're unstable. So they want bodies. They want forms to keep themselves whole. They... the tablet Nue has and the one the Shadowlord has are supposed to let them force their way into us, into our bodies. I don't know how, but that's what they're after."

"That's what this is about? You're sure?"

"Yes. But... simply stopping use of the tablets may not be enough. Some Shades have forced their way into bodies in a different way. You saw the result in the Aerie. Imperfect, unstable forms, but still forms, still better than none at all. That's why the forms melted away; when they became agitated enough, the physical aspect lost out to the Shade aspect."

"They... wait, then what happened to the people they possessed? Didn't they still have their minds?"

"I... don't think so. Their minds were... destroyed when the Shades forced their way in. Yuugi, they're not trying to possess us; they're trying to replace us within our own bodies. That's why they need the tablets, because they aren't satisfied with ordinary possession. And that's why they messed up in the Aerie; they were too aggressive, wiping out the minds of those they possessed right away. That's what made the forms unstable. They've found another way now, which is what was used on me, but it's slower. Takes a few months for the original mind to be consumed, but once that happens, only the Shade's mind is left, and the body belongs fully to it. They can be expelled before then, but once the original mind is gone, that's it. They can possess that way one at a time without the tablets-it's what was being done to me-but it's hard and takes time. And it took them centuries to figure out how to do it. Some Shades didn't want to wait that long."

"Which is why the ones in the Aerie used the bad method."

"I... think so, yes. And they aren't the only ones to look for another way. The wolves in the desert, they had their forms taken over. They were still animals, without sentient minds, so it was easy, they didn't need to find a method like they did with us, and the takeover was instantaneous. I think... they were hoping that the sudden acquisition of minds would change the animal forms into those of youkai, but... it didn't. I'm sure it'll happen eventually, but... until then, they're just unusually intelligent and strong wolves. Or were, I guess. The people of Facade still thought they were just animals."

"Hold on," Yuugi said. "Are you saying the reason the wolves attacked Facade is because they were being hunted?"

"Yes. I... think that's right. The wolves had become people in a sense, but the kappa still thought they were ordinary animals, and still acted as such. If the wolves mistook this as aggression, then..."

"They thought they were justified? Bullshit. If they just wanted to live, they could've left the desert, found somewhere away from any people. It's not like they were attached to their homes or anything. Maybe the kappa didn't realize the wolves had minds, but what happened wasn't their fault. The wolves chose to fight, chose to attack Facade, and they got what they deserved."

"That is a fair point. I'm not trying to excuse what happened, just explain what I've learned about it."

"Yeah," Yuugi said. "I know. Is there anything else?"

"No," Mamizou said. "Get in there and go help Nue. Just be careful, all right?"

"You don't need to worry about me," Yuugi said. "You just wait here; we'll be done in no time."

* * *

><p>"<em>Stop."<em>

Nue immediately came to a stop. She couldn't help herself, even though she knew the one who spoke wasn't the true owner of that voice. "Byakuren?"

Byakuren had awoken, and was approaching Nue. "Please, do not continue this. It serves no purpose."

Nue gave herself a mental shake. _Don't be fooled. That's not Byakuren. That's the Shade talking._ "You don't really think I'll listen, do you? I'm not backing down."

"I do not want to fight you, but if you continue this, I will have no choice."

"If you don't want to fight, then get the hell out of Byakuren's body."

"It is my form," Byakuren said. "The one you call Byakuren is no more than the shadow left behind by my departure from my form."

"Don't give me that shit," Nue said. "If you really were Byakuren, you wouldn't take anyone's body from them, not even your own. She would find another way, a way to preserve both. And if she couldn't, she would remain without a form. She would never take over another person's body. Never."

"This is not another person's form. It is mine, and the false mind within it an aberration."

"She wouldn't care, and you're not going to convince me otherwise. I know her better than that. Maybe you were born from her mind somehow, but do not think you _are_ her mind, because you aren't. That's easy to see."

Byakuren sighed. "I truly was hoping to avoid violence, but it seems this is not an option."

"Bring it," Nue said. "I'm not going to lose here."

"Leave us the tablet," the Shadowlord said, "and you can leave here unhindered."

"You really think I want to leave? Hell, no. Not without Byakuren."

"Then so be-"

The Shadowlord was cut off as it was slammed into from the side, sailing a ways with its attacker before the two leapt apart. "Two against one?" Yuugi said. "That's not really fair, now, is it?"

"Yuugi," Nue said.

"Hey. Sorry it took me so long; that boar just would not stay dead. Right, so I'm assuming Byakuren's possessed, then?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, then. You get the Shade out of her; I'll handle this piece of shit."

"Thanks."

The Shadowlord tried to run at Nue, but Yuugi blocked its path. "I don't think so. Your fight's with me. You're the one in charge; that means you're responsible for all of this. Everything the Shades have done, including the attack on the underground and the deaths of my people."

"A regrettable event," the Shadowlord said, "but not my doing. Those were relapse cases."

"I don't know what the hell that means, and you know what? I don't give a shit, either."

Yuugi charged.

Nue held her trident at the ready and faced Byakuren. "I don't want to do this," Byakuren said. "I truly mean that. But if I must, then I will. You are soulless vessels who only think you're people."

"No, we're not. I don't know what you Shades are, but you are not us."

"Indeed. You are just shadows, echoes of us. We are the true people, and soon we will once again exist within our rightful forms."

"Yeah? And what about humans? They don't live as long as we do. All the humans what were alive during the Radiance are dead. Even if you are us, you are not the humans alive now."

"Those without souls cannot give life to one with a soul. The humans born since then are but empty shells with false minds. The forms of those humans alive at the time of separation are dead, but the descendants of those forms are empty, each able to receive a soul. The humans who lost their forms will live on in the forms of their descendants."

"Again with the no souls thing," Nue said.

"It is true. Mind and soul are one, and we are the minds. You do not have souls because we are the souls. I have not taken Byakuren's form from her; I have regained my form."

"No. You're not the real Byakuren. You're trying to replace her. And I'm not going to let you."

[BGM=/watch?v=Xw6vHnDQwpM&index=93&list=PLA9933EA052CBD53C]

"Then you leave me no choice." A staff formed in Byakuren's hands; not the ornate staff of a magician, but rather the plain shaft of a martial artist. "If you insist on fighting, then I will strike you down."

"Like hell you will."

Nue charged. Byakuren met the charge, blocking Nue's trident with her staff before swinging the other end around to strike. Nue ducked under it and came in from the side, but Byakuren was fast enough to evade, and brought her staff in again. Nue evaded and struck, but Byakuren was quick enough to bring the other end of the staff around to block.

The Shadowlord thrust its spear at Yuugi, who ducked to the side and punched the Shadowlord in the chest, knocking it into the wall. It recovered quickly and came at Yuugi, who sidestepped and attacked with a roundhouse punch. The Shadowlord passed into the floor, evading the attack and moving under Yuugi. Like Nue, Yuugi realized what was happening quickly enough to evade when the Shadowlord burst forth. The Shadowlord fired a set of shadowy spears at Yuugi, and charged in. Yuugi deftly maneuvered around the projectiles, and when the Shadowlord came in, she simply raised her hand to block, the spear striking harmlessly against her gauntlet. At the Shadowlord's clear shock, Yuugi just grinned. "Mythril." Then she grabbed the spear, attempting to pull it from the Shadowlord's grasp. Instead, the Shadowlord hung on, so Yuugi spun around in a circle before releasing the spear, sending the Shadowlord into the wall again.

Byakuren came in fast. Nue blocked her first strike, but then the other end of the staff came in and Nue had to dodge. She tried to counter, but Byakuren already had the first end of her staff in position to block. Then the other end of the staff came around again, striking Nue in the side. Nue both heard and felt the breaking of bones, and leapt back as she forced them to reform. She knew she was only making it worse in the long term, but she didn't care. As long as she won this fight, she didn't care.

Byakuren didn't give Nue much time, running in and attacking almost immediately. Nue blocked and countered, Byakuren blocked and struck, Nue dodged, Byakuren struck again, Nue blocked, Byakuren struck, Nue dodged and countered, Byakuren blocked and countered, Nue dodged, Byakuren attacked, Nue dodged, strike, block, strike, strike, block, dodge, strike, parry, strike, strike, evade, counter, block, counter, evade, strike, strike, block, strike, block, strike, evade, strike, block, counter, evade, strike.

Byakuren had the advantage in this fight, and Nue knew it. Nue had the edge in terms of power, but forcing a possessor out required physical harm, and in physical combat, Byakuren was far superior. She was more skilled than Nue, and thanks to her enhancement magic, she was faster and stronger as well. In addition, Nue was finally beginning to tire; the Grand Patriot's Elixir, it seemed, was reaching its limit. But Nue still had one advantage. Byakuren was willing to fight if needed, but she wasn't a killer, and whether or not the claims of Shades being people's minds and souls were true, that one trait, at least, Byakuren's possessor appeared to share with her. Like Byakuren, this Shade, whatever else it may be, wasn't a killer.

But Nue was.

Had been, rather, but the instincts, the monster she'd once been, remained. That was her one edge in this fight, so Nue let it out, let her old instincts come to the fore one last time. It was the only advantage Nue had, and if she did indeed end up killing again, well, Byakuren couldn't die. In fact, killing her would be the ultimate shock to her possessor, essentially guaranteed to force the possessor out. So Nue, despite her disadvantage, pressed the attack, striking with a sudden ferocity that took Byakuren by surprise. But this didn't last long; Byakuren was quickly able to compensate, and though halting Nue's assault was more difficult now, she was able to do so, and then began pushing back.

The Shadowlord came in with a slashing attack, but Yuugi simply caught the spear. She pulled on it, yanking the Shadowlord towards her, and hit the creature with an uppercut that sent it into the ceiling. The Shadowlord fired more of its shadow spears at is came back it, but Yuugi charged right through them, taking the hits as she tackled the Shadowlord, carrying it into the wall. Then she grabbed it and slammed it into the floor. She picked it up, then slammed it down again. And again. And again.

Nue tried to keep up the attack, but she couldn't. Byakuren was too much faster, too much stronger, her skill too much greater. Nue backed off after taking another strong blow, forcing her monstrous side back down as she once again mended her broken bones, something she knew she couldn't keep doing for much longer. _Damn it, how the _hell_ is this thing this skilled? Possession only confers use of the possessed's abilities, not her skills! How is this piece of shit Shade doing this?_

Nue knew she was outmatched, but even so, she wasn't about to give up. So she made ready to charge Byakuren again, but then noticed something and instead leapt back as the Shadowlord went sailing between the two of them and into the nearby wall. Yuugi followed it, grabbing it and hurling it into the ceiling before jumping up, grabbing the Shadowlord again, and slamming it into the floor. Then she punched it in the face, over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over until it stopped moving, at which point Yuugi ripped its body in half.

"No!" Byakuren charged Yuugi, and Nue immediately seized her chance. Another sign that the Shade within Byakuren wasn't a killer, was fighting purely out of necessity: seeing the Shadowlord beaten down that hard drew her attention, and though she noticed Nue coming, it was a moment too late, and Nue's trident pierced through her chest. And when the black substance burst forth, Nue cut through it again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again until there was nothing left.

[end BGM]


	23. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

[BGM=/watch?v=hGbja6xxM2w]

_It was over._

_For a while, Yuugi and I just stood there in silence. The Shadowlord was dead, was was the Shade I'd forced from Byakuren. The battle above was winding down at this time, too, as I would learn once I returned to the village. The Shades still existed, of course, but their leader was dead, and once Yuugi smashed both tablets, there was no risk of any other Shade managing to carry out its 'recombination' plan._

_Byakuren's wound healed quickly, but she remained motionless. Which wasn't surprising; the Shade within her'd had a strong hold, and it had been expelled just as she died. That much mental stress was enough to render even Byakuren unconscious of a while. What did surprise me was the absence of any sign of the Black Scrawl. No mark, no sign of it, remained on her body. I wondered if the disease was connected somehow to the Shade I'd forced from her. And later, she would confirm this. According to a fragment of the Shade's memory, the Black Scrawl did have something to do with Shade possession. What, we still do not know; the piece of she Shade's mind revealed only that the connection existed, and nothing more._

_As I stood there with Yuugi, looking at Byakuren's unconscious form, I couldn't help but wonder how much of what the Shadowlord had told me was true. I never believed they were actually our minds, but that didn't mean they had no connection to us. Perhaps they are the shadows, the echoes, of our minds that the Shadowlord claimed we are to them. After all, the Shade within Byakuren was more than just a random creature; it moved and fought just like her. The Shades shared at least _something_ with us, thought what, we still do not know. And there was also the issue of White Chlorination Syndrome. We'd seen that name before my confrontation with the Shadowlord; unless it had been deliberately planted in Ari's records by the Shades-which was possible, seeing as how even Ari herself hadn't known it was there-it was likely that the disease, at least, was real. And it was also sure that no such disease was affecting anyone, meaning it had to have been dealt with in some way._

_There were still questions, many questions, and I knew that wouldn't be the last time I thought about them. But I also knew that we would most likely never know the answers. So I grabbed Byakuren, and Yuugi and I left. On our way out, we of course passed by Mamizou, who was still in bad shape, so Yuugi grabbed her, and we made our way out._

* * *

><p>"...are dealing with the stragglers. It shouldn't be much longer before the area is clear."<p>

"That's good, Kotoro," Keine said. "Let me know when they've finished, all right?"

"Certainly," Kotoro said, then took to the air.

Keine was just outside the village with Tenshi, Suika, and Kaguya, and she turned to Suika. "I suppose you're done here, too, then."

"Yep!" Suika said. "I gotta get home and make sure everyone's okay. I bet they are, though. We can take care of ourselves. The others are going back with me, I think, but someone'll be back here soon. We're still gonna make sure you don't lose your home."

"Which is something we all thank you for," Keine said. "Goodbye, Suika."

"Bye! Oh, and when she gets back, tell Yuugi I went back home, okay? Thanks! See ya!"

Suika flew off, and Keine turned to Kaguya. "That's that, I guess. What about you? How did things go for you?"

"Good. I think Mokou and Utsuho are done with fighting, and I'm pretty sure Utsuho's going to stop trying to break out and ravage the moon. They'll probably head back underground; the city may not be there anymore, but the palace still is, and that's been their home for centuries, even if Mokou has been living elsewhere the last two months."

"Makes sense to me. As long as she comes to visit sometimes."

"I'm guessing she will. And I'm sure she'll come see you before leaving, so you can make that request to her in person."

"I think I will. And what about you?"

"I'm going back to Eientei, of course. It'll take a lot of work, but eventually, I should be able to normalize it. Assuming I'm right about its shifts being predictable, at least."

"Maybe you should ask Alice for help," Keine said. "After all, she specializes in the effects of magic on inanimate objects. She may have some insights to offer."

"If you can tear her away from her dolls," Tenshi said. "Although I guess she might decide working on your problem could give her new insights into her own."

"That's actually a good point to raise with her, if she doesn't think of it herself. A study of what's happening with Eientei may very well provide new insights for her work."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kaguya said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. And... what about your relationship with Mokou?"

"To be honest, I have no idea how that's going to end up. I don't want her out of my life. I don't know what relationship she's willing to have with me, but even going back to killing each other would be better than her being gone. Although I don't think she wants to go back to that. Utsuho may start coming after me, though; I'm fairly sure she's still mad about Satori. But even there, we'll just have to see what happens."

"True enough," Keine said. "Well, I suppose we'll see you... sometime? Where will you be staying while you investigate Eientei?"

"The same place I've been staying, assuming Mokou doesn't object. And probably even if she does. After all, if she's going back underground, there's not a lot she can do about it. Anyways, I'llupdate you on my progress from time to time."

"I appreciate it," Keine said. "I'll see you later, then, Kaguya."

"Until next time," Kaguya said, and then she flew off, leaving Keine and Tenshi by themselves.

"Well," Tenshi said, "thinks went well on our end. Let's just hope Nue and Yuugi pulled it off on their end, as well."

"Yeah," Keine said. "I think we all want Byakuren back."

"And for the Shadowlord to be taken out."

"True. Although even if it is killed, the Shades will still exist."

"Maybe, but they'll be without their leader. And unless they're truly endless, we had to've put a dent in their numbers wiping out a force that size. Whether they're still a problem or not, I'd say things are looking up for once."

"Perhaps they are. I don't know if we should hope for too much, but perhaps they are."

* * *

><p>It turned out that Mokou and Utsuho would be spending more time above-ground than underground, at least for the immediate future. "Radiation-or some variant of it-is what's been killing the land," Mokou said to Keine, "and Utsuho thinks she can get rid of it. At the very least, she's certain she can stop its spread. She's checking it out right now, although I don't think she'll actually start working today, not after all that's happened."<p>

"Understandable," Keine said. "You two have some issues to work out, I imagine."

Mokou chuckled. "There's an understatement for you. But I think we'll manage. Anyways, once she does start working at it, she'll be up here a lot, and I'll probably come up with her if not every time, than a lot of the time. Don't worry; I'll make sure to drop by sometimes. May even bring Utsuho sometimes, if that's all right."

"As long as you can guarantee she won't cause problems here."

"I think I can, yes. Anyways, I should get going. I'll be sure to stop by soon, though."

"I'm looking forward to it," Keine said.

* * *

><p><em>Eventually, we emerged from the mausoleum, back outside among the ruins of the Myouren Temple. And it was then that Byakuren began to stir in my arms, so I set her down and waited as she woke up, and Yuugi set Mamizou down as well.<em>

_Eventually, Byakuren opened her eyes and turned her head to look at me. "N... Nue."_

"_It's me, Byakuren," I said. "It's me. Yuugi's here, too. We got you out of there."_

"_Yes. And... what of... what of..."_

"_The Shadowlord? It's dead."_

"_Yes. The Shadowlord. Or... Nue, was it... was it really..."_

"_No," I said. "That wasn't Shou. Maybe it used to be, but if so, there was little of her left, if any at all."_

"_But it was... a person. As was the Shade within me."_

"_The Shadowlord claimed all Shades were people, but that most had lost their minds to 'relapse'."_

"_Yes. I... think that's true. Nue, what... what have we been-"_

"_What we had to do," I said. "They attacked us, 'Ren. You know that. Mindless or not, _they_ are the aggressors. _They_ are the ones who struck. We had to fight back, you know that. They didn't give us a choice."_

"_I... I know, but... it's just that... we thought they were monsters, but... even if we did only what we had to, it just... feels different now."_

"_Yeah. Maybe it does. But we didn't have a choice, and we still don't. The Shadowlord may be gone, but Shades still exist, and we'll still have to fight them. We won't have a choice."_

"_True enough, as much as I may dislike it. But... at least there's one thing we do have. Whatever else may have happened, may come about as a result of what's happened... thank you, Nue. For coming for me. I'm glad to have you."_

"_And I'm glad to have you."_

* * *

><p><strong>And there we have it.<strong>

**First of all, for those of you wondering why I broke the last chapter into parts, well, I already knew I wanted to focus entirely on the battle above before switching to Nue and Yuugi, rather than switching between as I did in the previous chapter, and I felt that the transition needed something stronger than just a simple scene break. So I put the battle above into part 1, and Nue and Yuugi's stuff into part 2.**

**Well, this was quite a thing, this story. And to those of you who are curious about NieR after having read this story, well, I strongly encourage you to get it. I'll freely acknowledge that it's not a game for everyone, but I'm not exaggerating at all when I say it's my all-time favorite video game. As far as I'm concerned, it's absolutely goddamn amazing, but even if you don't end up liking it as much as I do, I still encourage giving it a try. If nothing else, I can guarantee you've never played anything like it; it's one of the very few games to offer a truly unique experience. There's nothing else like it. And even if you don't intend to try it, you should at the very least check out the absolutely incredible soundtrack. I've used quite a few tracks from it throughout this story, but really, you owe it to yourself to give the whole thing a listen.**

**Anyways, that's it for this story. I hope you liked it. And yes, I do, as usual, have my next story planned, although I may take a break for a couple weeks before starting in on it. It's another Touhou fic, and I intend to call it 'End Fantasy'. I hope you'll all give it a look.**

**Thank you for reading, a big thanks to everyone who gave reviews, and I hope to see you all again next time.**


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